For and against older Australian red wines

WINE TALK
1

Against:

Even in the most balanced of them, the flavor. It’s a sweet red synergy between the ripe yet bright red fruit and the equally sweet tasting oak. It’s in the Shiraz, the grenache, and sometimes the cabernet. Bubblegum is too harsh a word but it gives a hint of that flavor.

Parker in cahoots with the Grateful Palate. Except for Grange Hermitage and the more elegant Hill of Grace, Americans on average were blissfully unaware of SAus reds until Dan Philips started importing Noon and Ringland-made and other wines through Oxnard and the then-very esteemed Parker suddenly threw scores at that portfolio that competed with the brand new Napa cult cabs like Bryant Harlan SE Colgin and the more elegant but vintage sensitive Araujo. The timing with the great SAus1998 vintage was perfect. But then after the linear 1999s and the subpar 2000s people bought 2001s with 98 Parker points and IMO they were part 2007 CNduPape and part Frankenstein powdered tannin and awkward oak… and America turned its back on SAus. Meanwhile RunRig and Three Rivers were outliers, great wines lost in the backlash.
And Philips turned the Ringland name into an empty franchise.

And that’s how it sat about 12 years ago. And still sets IMO. It’s over. Right?

For:

In the past year for me, the same experience repeated again and again: off the top of my head:

Yarra Yering Dry Red 1 and 2 1998.
Maxwell Lime Cave cab 1998.
John Riddoch 1994 cab.
Dutschke Oskar Semmler 1998.
Every Three Rivers I’ve had except 2003. In general my favorite wine tied with 2000 Margaux.
Torbreck’s weird 2005 experiment cofermenting Shiraz with Roussanne and Marsanne instead of Viognier.
Even Sparky and Sarah Marquis’s 1998 Fox Creek Reserve.
Everything made in 1996? I hope so.

These wines are showing fresh and unoxidized. They are quieter and more elegant versions of their newly released selves, although the cabs are slowly aging like cabs. They are aging better than their Napa counterparts. They delight me.

Caveat: I intentionally avoid the really high alcohol ones and the grenaches, a grape I love. The Torbrecks don’t seem built to last. I avoid 2001 and 2003.

The question is, can you handle that Aus flavor, even if it’s in an outstanding balanced complex wine that is aging beautifully? Or did you suffer too much PTSD (Parker Toxic Score Deception) from the worst offenders and those 98 points for undrinkable 2001’s?

Either position is valid. But with the memory of very old Grange and most Three Rivers and Rockford SVS as my lodestones that there is true greatness in Oz, with Margaret River as an unexplored (except for Leeuwin red and white, those I know) world class lesson in QPR elegance, I have had some great not expensive wine experiences this year, with wines showing as their younger selves but quieter.

Tonight is the 1994 Riddoch cab. It’s young and Cabernet-ish more than it is Oz-ish. I have some 1998, and based on tonight I might hold those. I did not expect that.

Last year I visited Sydney. I was poured a Beechworth $35 Castagna. Whoa. It would immediately change the mind of many Americans who went through PTSD trauma. The whole Victoria and Beechworth region is unto itself and I’ve known for 15 years about the perfect balance of Jasper Hill wines.

But I’m limiting this post to the Parker darlings of 1998. Except for JJHahn (odd because Rolf Binder’s Hanisch1998 is gentlemanly and lovely) they’re quite satisfying and pretty for me.

Noon? No idea what they turn into. Maybe Turley zin. Ask me in 10 years.

2

This is an excellent topic. we are coming into steak grilling weather here in the norther states. One advantage, it never gets too too hot to enjoy a red wine. I am going to pull corks on some of those very wines you describe, as I too fell off the wagon with the 2001’s. It is the most unforgivable sin that Parker committed in his many years of actually advancing the cause of quality wine. (I know, St Emilion is probably another). I have also had very good experiences with the likes of Kay Brothers from the late 90’s, they aged beautifully. Pulling a cork on Three Rivers this summer over July 4th and other Aussie ooze monsters. It will be en education…wonder if RP will ever go back and re-taste all of those old Dan Phillips faves?

3

I’ve still got a few bottles of 2001 and 2001 Dead Arm. They have been drinking very well.

4

Is the aging curve different for Australian wines? From my very short experience with them, it does seem like they drink very young for a longer period of time then change very quickly afterwards.

5

When I go to gatherings where many are not that into wines, I will often bring wines I bought a while back that hold little interest to me know. Not because I am pawning them off, as much as, I find there are some people in these setting who really enjoy big robust wines, so why not share the wines with those who will enjoy them. That being said I recently brought a bottle of 2005 Kilikanoon Testament Shiraz to one such event and it showed surprisingly elegant. Still big, but better acid balance and more complex then I would have thought.

6

I forgot about 1998 Kay Block 6 Shiraz. I drank six in the past year. Not only delicioud, toned down from its youthful days, but it still has that slightly wild masculine/feminine thing going on. However, unlike most of the other wines I mention, I would drink up. Which I fid.

7

I think vintage and original material matters. Wines from 1990 that I bought here and there from Winebid had not aged well for me but that could be provenance. I think the size of 1998’s helps them age. I have a couple of high end 1996’s which was a quieter but very elegant year and I will be very curious to see whether the balance kept the quieter fruit fresh. I should open them soon. The cabernet I had last night from 1994 though, not a famous year, was aging really well and seemed to be changing the way a cabernet should. There is no Napa 1994 cabernet as good for my palate at the price I paid.

The higher alcohol ones IMO should suddenly get unpleasant when the huge fruit fades even a little, leaving the vodka unmasked. If it showed hot on release, I have no interest in seeing whether time has helped. However, a wine that showed way too oaky on release is unpredictable. It can have the oak integrate leaving a beautiful wine, or the oak could be hiding alcohol and cynical winemaking that emerge later, a fear I also have about several recent expensive Napa cabernets, Parker 98-100. In that case I look to the track record of the winemaker to guess what will happen.

But anyone who thinks Australian reds cannot age is objectively wrong and has never had a Grange. I had a 1991 a couple of years ago and to me it had the awkwardness of a four year old wine. Meanwhile an ullaged 1971 at age 30 was one of the best wines I’ve ever had and it showed like a great Bordeaux. I’ll drink my one bottle of 1998 Grange in 2028 for my 70th birthday, if I can.

In short, their ageability depends on what you started with, and that’s where Parker has been no help at all. Pedigree is your best guide. Your palate isnt much help because on release there’s all that oak and fruit synergy creating that distinctive Oz flavor of, I dont know, strawberry jam, plus powdered tannibs, making it hard to extrapolate… The Marquis wines are too risky for me because on release I can’t tell how much is winemaking and how much is good strong fruit underneath.

8

The big message that it took me a while to appreciate, is that there was much more to Australia than the local critics’ love of South Australia, and certain US writers’ love of the biggest wines from McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley. Not all age well, and many more might age without ever gaining much additional complexity. Some do though, but on the whole that doesn’t match with the bigger is better, biggest is best mentality which seemed the focus of US importing when Parker et al were driving the market.

Even in Australia, despite a good few sarcastic jibes at the gloopy wines making it big in the USA, has to my mind often focused too much on South Australian Shiraz at the bigger end of the scale. Grange has been the leading wine in Australia for many decades, but I think it’s rather held back the industry, as too many people saw that as the style they must emulate. There is much more out there and some great older wines that don’t fit the big fruit / big oak model. There is also that wonderful attitude of the Aussies to try new stuff out. It’s wrong to pigeon-hole them.

9

Ian my comments are mainly about South Australia. I hope to visit Melbourne and from there Victoria and Beechworth. I’d really like to visit the winemakers I’ve met near Adelaide but I’d be tasting the style of wines with which I’m already familiar. I would buy a lot of Mt. Edelstone right now if the price were lower. Sydney to Melbourne to Adelaide to Perth would be a terrific wine trip.

10

Maybe i should just drink my 2009 Shiraz that has 14.8 alcohol. It would be a shame to hold on to it and have it turn into a vodka cranberry.

11

… and a lot of miles!
Despite liking Margaret River and Great Southern, it might be worth looking at a flight between Sydney and Melbourne, then hire a car to explore the likes of Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, before heading to some in the west on the way to the great ocean road towards Adelaide. Melbourne has plenty of wine regions surrounding it, covering a really diverse range of styles. From Bendigo through Great Western / Pyrenees down to the Yarra valley and Mornington Pensinsula, plus others. Don’t skimp on time in Melbourne though, a really charming city with great botanical gardens (worth the trip out to the southern suburbs for this), diverse yet embedded different cultures offering huge variety in dining, and a city centre that still retains some charming historical buildings (not just the fancy ones either). I’ll also put in a shout for the Victorian Tram car restaurant that leaves from near the Crown Casino and tours a large chunk of the city via the tram network. The food is good but not special, but plenty of it and modest but decent wines included in the price, which is pretty fair IMO.

12

p.s. George - thanks for the update on the 1991 Grange, the only bottle of Grange I own. I sometimes wonder whether I would have been better buying an off-vintage as everything points to it lasting for decades yet.

13

It very much depends on the wine. Some are really at their best up to a couple of years past release - they’re all about the lush fruit, that needs the initial vibrancy to show well (e.g. Mitolo). Not all the ‘big’ wines that rode the GP / RMP wave are like that, so even there it depends, but many have a good track record.

At the other end of the scale, some are a little more shy on release (e.g. Bests) yet a decade or three in the cellar brings much more complexity.

Something like Wynns Black label Cabernet Sauvignon is a nice compromise - often very enjoyable on release, yet has remarkable longevity and can be very special in time considering it’s still modest pricing.

14

Have always been a fan of Dead Arm and Kay Shiraz’s. Never seemed out of balance or awkward.

15

The rest of the group felt it was wonderful as it was, including one Oz wine hater. I’m pretty sure I was right. A 1997 Ridge Monte Bello showed the same last month, I thought it young awkward and disjointed, not everyone did. But the 91 Grange was not closed at all, you’ll get a really good really big wine that IMO is too young.

16

Agree on all three, and now I know why I disliked the bottles of highly rated Mitolo I’ve had. I guess I sensed it wasn’t going anywhere.

17

I needed to hear this because, having loved Sydney, Melbourne is what I am most interested in, city wise and wine wise, a friend of mine lives there and despite their new baby are open for houseguests. I’d be OK with skipping Perth. The ocean road Melbourne to Adelaide is what? 1000 miles?

18

Same here bud. Got s couple 2003 dead arms left and feel like they’re drinking well. Pretty much the last of my Aussie wines…but I’m really intrigued to try out some older Australian Semillon if I can get my hands on some.

19

FWIW I was fooled - the brains of the operation thrust a glass in my direction (the GAM) at a stand up tasting, and it really stood out, but then that’s what Ben and his dad Colin are clearly very good at doing.

Buying 2-3 bottles for the cellar, none matched the upfront charms of the younger wine. I didn’t look hard at the structure (or lack of it) to wonder where it might go. I have a respect for their winemaking nous, but I personally want something more interesting, and am prepared to wait for it. Where I might buy the wine again is on a restaurant wine list full of current / recent vintages, where it should (comparatively) perform well.

20

I do not drink many of the wines you have mentioned so it is difficult to comment on them. However, I do like the Yarra Yering. I had the 2008 vintage last week. Very young indeed but just beautifully composed. Elegant wine with lots of potential.


Recently, I hosted a few tasting for my friends (who are just a bit in to wine but not with cellars etc ) to show case them how Australian wine ages. We had a 2000 Craiglee Shiraz. Its made in the outskirts off Melbourne. Its a very nice mid bodied earthy wine. Effortless drinking. Well priced too. Other older wines Australian wines in those tastings were: 1998 Lakes Folly Cab (NSW), 1998 Yeringberg Cab (Vic), 1994 Henschke Edelstone, 1995 Houghton show reserve shiraz (WA). And a pair of 1997 and 1997 Tyrrells Vat 1 semillons (NSW). All were unique in their own expression and great. And with loads of potential.

Other memorable Australian wines I had in the past couple of years have been:
1990, 1991 and 1996 Penfolds Bin 28,
1996 Penfolds Bin 389,
1996 Penfolds St Henri
1996, 1999, 2001 Moss Wood Cab
1998 Brokenwood ‘graveyard’ shiraz
2002 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

There are lots of stylistically different wines out there.