I still cellar many Aussie wines from the 80s and 90 when they made them in the old style and hadn’t hit fruit monster profile yet. Somewhere in the early 2000s, the exported wines began to be fruit bombs that in many cases lacked the structure for long ageing - I would link that to the many reviewers that drooled over such wines but who knows. In any case, the result was wines that would never become the style I liked, they would just fall apart sooner than the older style (I know - there were lots of exceptions but in terms of what we were getting here in Canada the balance was overwhelmingly on the side of fruit bombs).
I stopped buying as the new style didn’t suit my palate. I still enjoy the wines that do - opened a 1993 Penfolds Bin 389 this week that was excellent and I have some 1994 Henschke Cyril Henschke to get around to soon as well as some similarly aged 707s.
I didn’t walk away from Australian wines; they left me.
I used to buy Penfolds ( my favourite Aussie producer) but in these days their prices ( RWT, 389, 707) are out of my range.
I still have Grange 2001 and RWT 2010 but thats’ all I do not see any possibility to buy anymore. Pity…
^this is the answer really. Add in that the talented wine makers that have been emerging the past decade or so don’t really export their wines to America and that can explain for a lot of why we don’t see as much discussion here.
The good thing, Chris, is that you can absolutely start up some conversation! It’s a continent that makes a lot of good wine, so post more threads and tasting notes on wines
I just bought some Leeuwin and Vasse Felix chardonnays. Some of the bottlings are just too difficult to find here in the US. The other issue for me personally, I’ve been to Oz and wine tasted at the cellar doors and the price we pay here CONUS is vastly more expensive than buying winery direct in person. I have the same issues with wines I have bought in other countries as well.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I had access to all of the high flying wineries thanks to a graduate school friend from Australia. Noon, Greenock Creek, Fox Creek, Torbreck, etc. The wines were fun and some of them were very good, but I’ve lost interest in that style. Torbreck might be an exception, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had a Run Rig.
In 2003, I visited several of the major wine regions. I enjoyed visiting Barossa because of the time that I got to spend with Rolf Binder, barrel tasting the components of Heysen and Hanische, and getting to meet Drew Noon (and his crazy old vines). I also had a terrific visit at Rockford, scoring some 1996 vineyard designated Shiraz that were excellent. That said, I had just as much fun barrel tasting in some of the other regions. Dalwhinnie and Best’s Great Western and a number of small places in Coonawarra all come to mind. I suspect that I’d like these wineries’ wines as much to today as I did back then; they just don’t pop up on my radar.
Some of my favorite bottles ever came from Jasper’s Hill Emily’s Paddock (early 1990s), Hill of Grace (1994 and 1996), and Grange (assorted vintages from 1980s to 1990s), and I’d put the 1996 Hill of Grace up against just about any wine in the world. Too bad the world discovered it before I did.
I’m somewhat in this place. I have read, and am inclined to believe, that there are a growing number of good quality Australian wines that are not over the top in oak and ripeness, and a newer wave of wineries and winemakers seeking more balanced wines. But every time I’m told that, it’s followed by “but almost none of that is exported to the US.”
Some of the few like that I had bought from time to time in the past, like Penfolds St. Henri and Penfolds RWT, seem to have gone weirdly up in price to levels that don’t seem competitive to me.
So, if and when there are good quality wines in styles that interest me, which are available without excessive difficulty and at reasonable prices, I personally will be quite interested to buy some and explore.
I don’t know if or when that is going to happen, but I do click on threads like this when they come up because I want to know. I read through them hoping someone will say “here are two exciting up and coming producers, you can find these bottlings of theirs in the US without too much difficulty and at good prices, go check them out.” And I’d probably go do it. But, it doesn’t seem like that time has arrived yet.
I recently poured a 2012 Leeuwin Art Series for some experienced Burg collector friends, in a blind zoom tasting. They called it perfectly – they thought it was a White Burgundy, but noted the fruit had a little more ripeness and sweetness to it, so they thought maybe from a ripe vintage, or maybe a New World chardonnay made in more of a Burg style. Which I think was a very good characterization of that bottle.
I thought it was good – maybe more neutral to pretty good QPR at its price point. Especially under screw cap, it might have improved with another 5+ years, maybe the sweetness recedes a little more. I’d be happy to have it again, but I wasn’t necessarily running out to get more, either.
I had one bottle of 99, which my wife bought me at Hi Time, I think for mid $100 range. I’d held onto it, to age, but also because the absurd price escalation made it clear I was never buying another, nor was I likely to have anyone else pour one for me (and indeed, nobody ever has – you rarely even hear about anyone drinking Grange in recent years).
So we went ahead and had it lats month with friends, over Zoom, bottle split into halves for each couple, decanted a few hours first. It was very good. The first hour or two it had more of a meaty, Mourvedre-like character over black fruits, but then after a few hours, it got prettier, more purple berry fruits and lift emerged.
I wouldn’t buy it again at even half its price these day, maybe not even at 1/3rd of its price, but it was a very good wine, and I’m happy I got to have that one experience at least.
John Glas wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:09 pm
I just bought some Leeuwin and Vasse Felix chardonnays
Leeuwin makes some of the best Chardonnays in the world for the price in my opinion. Never had a bad one and with screw cap closure no flawed bottles.
I recently poured a 2012 Leeuwin Art Series for some experienced Burg collector friends, in a blind zoom tasting. They called it perfectly – they thought it was a White Burgundy, but noted the fruit had a little more ripeness and sweetness to it, so they thought maybe from a ripe vintage, or maybe a New World chardonnay made in more of a Burg style. Which I think was a very good characterization of that bottle.
I thought it was good – maybe more neutral to pretty good QPR at its price point. Especially under screw cap, it might have improved with another 5+ years, maybe the sweetness recedes a little more. I’d be happy to have it again, but I wasn’t necessarily running out to get more, either.
Chris I don’t want to many to love the wine as the price will go up. It has been around $70.00 a bottle for a decade.
Grange is a collectible commodity like Lafite. Everyone buys it for their kids birth year, wedding anniversary etc. A lot that is sold is traded or left in a cupboard. The price sky rocketed when the 1990 was named WS wine of the year. I was working for Penfolds at the time. It cost retailers $AU100 and it was selling the next day for $350 - $400. For contect I was offered a dozen 83 on release for $400, seven years earlier.
Then the Chinese market discovered Grange and 707. Demand continued to outstrip supply.
We sell Grange on the winelist for $1100 to $1200 for vintages from the 80s and 90s. Based on current LUCs it’s probably too cheap but nobody buys it.
It will be interesting to see where the secondary market is in a couple of years given the market access issues into China.
Is Grange worth it? Is SQN? Is Lafite? Is Opus one for that matter?
The beauty of Grange is that if you buy it for your childs birth year you can open it on their 40th birthday with high expectation that it will be sound and tasty assuming good storage, and from any vintage.
Great explanation. And I have no bitterness or resentment that they can get high prices – I was just saying it’s not something I’d value like that, even though I respect it and would be very psyched if anyone ever offered me a glass.
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