Older Aussies

WINE TALK
21

Obviosly this is a generalisation, but this is what I often found in these two vintages.

The '02’s are much finer and elegant as you say, the product of a cooler and longer, more even season. I like these, and some are very good indeed. Had an '02Turkey Flat shiraz recently that was great, and only entering what I would say will be a long 20 year drinking phase.

'01in WA was a great year indeed, some really spectacular cabs…

22

2002 Troll Creek Barossa Valley Hage Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Made by Rusden Wines. 15% ABV. Popped and poured. Black fruits on the nose. Typical Cab color and vicosity. Boysenberry fruits on the palate with some kitchen spice. Flavors are bright with some acidity and any tannins are resolved. Lengthy finish with some drying at the end. Blind tasted I would have picked it as an upper eschelon Cali cab with 8 to 10 years of age and it is getting better with time. I’m stunned. The wine is excellent, leaning to my palate of fruit forward, yet supple and expressive.

23

2000 Trevor Jones Dry Grown Barossa Shiraz. 14% ABV. Unlike many of the other older wines, the cork came out in one piece with a lovely deep purple covered end. In the glass it is deep,deep garnet in color with thin legs. Nose of eucalyptus, game and damp earth. The first sip is juniper, followed by bright black cherry with clean medium finish. Some light acidity is present and begs for food, yet the fruit is so tantalizing I don’t want to infringe on its character. This has been the biggest surprise thus far. Some may not like juniper up front but it too adds to the depth and character. This wine appears younger than the previously mentioned wines and may be in its sweet spot.

24

I need to taste some old Aussie’s.

25

Great thread Randy, keep them coming. I have a boatload of 10+ year old Aussies in cellar and I think I am finally ready to start drinking them again. Bought most of them in haste on Bobs recommendation and dreaded the decision for years. Wanted to sell and figured there wasn’t much of a market when the Oz wines went out of favor. Now it seems I am glad I still have them.

Last wine drank was a 2001 Oliver Taranga Shiraz -
Eating steak and in the mood for something a little bigger. Not over the top and really delicious. No cooked fruit, stewed plums or scorched earth. Kind of a defensive tasting note but wasn’t actually expecting much. Very full, pure fruit and nice earthy nuances. Glad I cellared this one.

Before that I had a 2002 Longwood Shiraz that was spectacular.

26

Pulled a few Aussies myself today. Will open in the coming weeks and post on them. Much more hopeful after reading your success with your older Aussies.
On deck:

1999 Three Hills Margaret River
2000 Henry’s Drive Shiraz
2002 Two Hands Bull and the Bear ( thanks Michael from our visit )
2007 Two Hands Brilliant Disguise ( any thoughts on this one )

27

Josh,

I would expect the Bull and Bear should be at its sweet spot or will be with some time open. Don’t know how the Brilliant Disguise will be because they never stayed in the store that long. During the summer months, all the girls wanted something sparkling, a moscato or something different. We served them the Brilliant Disguise and the bottles all left the building. If anything, it may have picked up some more sweetness.

I will be looking forward to your notes on these. The Henry’s Drive was one of our favorites but we didn’t think it would hold up for more than 8 years. The Margaret River wines are different breed in of their own and I’m really interested in seeing your notes on it.

28

Okay, I popped a good one tonight. Suffering from a bad cold last 2 weeks but seem to be pulling through, so went with a 1999 Yalumba The Signature, a cabernet/shiraz blend. Decanted for 1 hour. Very fresh on nose with espresso, dusty raspberries, green peppers and mint. Subtle fruits on palate including strawberry, tart raspberries, wafts of savoriness and very smooth. After 2-3 hours some sweet fruit emerges in a very slight way. Lot more restrained than anticipated and not boozy at all. Good stuff.

29

A couple from Chrissie.
1990 Coriole lloyd Reserve Shiraz - mellow, leather, bright finish - in the zone.
1994 Yarra Yering no 1 - smoked oysters, silky, sneaky length, leather - absolutely delicious.

30

Great thread. Cracked a 1998 Parker Coonawarra Estate Terra Rossa First Growth Coonawarra Cabernet Blend (13.5% ABV) - 2 hour decant. It remains very primary and very New World - I was hoping for some more development, but this still shows a lot of juicy fruit (blackcurrent an black cherry), with moderate (American?) oak and a decent tannic and acid backbone. No booze. Was very popular at the dinner table. I’m going to let my remaining 3 bottles rest a while.

31

Agreed - excellent thread. I was disappointed with a number of Aussies from the mid 2000’s, but have been saving a number of ones from the '90s (Clarendon Hills, D’Arenberg, Greenock Creek, Parker referenced above, etc.) and am getting ready to start cracking them open. Hoping that they turn out well, will post notes as they are sampled…

32

Randy:
When I saw the thread, I was anticipating reference to wines from at least the 90’s if not 80’s. Does that reflect your take that these wines fall apart quickly or is it in the context that you didn’t sell them right away?

33

We only have wines back to when we opened our store, so the wines are “old” to us. We do have a few late 90’s kicking around. The wines we have exist for 3 reasons. First, they didn’t sell. Second, they weren’t ready to drink. Third, we were enjoying the drink now fruit bombs at the time so these wines got pushed to the back of the storeroom. We are now getting an education going through these wines and gaining a new appreciation of these wines.

As far as fall apart quickly, there were a few RP super rated wines we bought a ton of and couldn’t sell. They were fruit bombs. When we revisited them several years ago, they were prune juice. My fear was/is that the over extracted wines I loved may not hold up based on this experience. Here’s the review of one from Parker:

"(RP 96) A flagship cuvee, the 2003 xxxxxx is fashioned from a 47-year-old vineyard planted in the Vine Vale section of Barossa, resulting in a fabulous expression of Barossa Shiraz. Deep, full-bodied, and intense with peppery, blackberry, smoky, roasted meat, and herb characteristics, a huge, expansive, chewy mouthfeel, and a stunning 50-second finish, this profound Shiraz is approachable, but should age beautifully for 15-20 years. "

34

Since we usually start our evening with a Pinot Noir, I decided to grab one from a little off shore of down under, 2004 Daniel Schuster Waipara, New Zealand, unfined and unfiltered. 13.5 ABV. Cork stained half way up but no leakage. The wine has some bricking and a subtle nose of earth and a little bit of red berries. First sip is light, like the nose, of earth, some light crushed red and black berries with a relatively short, 10 to 15 second finish dominated by the still present acidity. Not much change after 10 minutes in the glass. Since I’m a fruit forward kinda guy, it’s not in my wheelhouse, but may be more appropriate for a Burgnut, who could find and identify characteristics I’m unfamiliar with. I think the wine may be a little past its prime given the bricking and short finish. Then again, it could be everything the Burg lover wants. [stirthepothal.gif] [cheers.gif]

35

Cold and new years festivities got in the way of checking in with the second half of this wine again until tonight. It improved. Alot. Beautiful fruit.
This wine will continue to improve in cellar for a while.

36

Thanks Tom. I’ll be rummaging through the back of the cellar because I think I have one of these in there.

37

Well we won’t be trying the 01 Whistler Barossa Heysen Estate. A bottle purchased Friday to enjoy with cigars in the lounge, led to the purchase of Every bottle left the store. They didn’t leave a sip for me, but the bottoms of the glasses were mud, and the cork black with 1/8 inch sediment. Knew I shoulda taken one home.

38

Raided the storeroom and these are going home for some more education and experience:

2003 Barossa Old Vine Shiraz
2003 Hazy Blur
2003 Kangarilla Road Maclaren Vale Zinfandel
1999 Penley Estate Coonawarra Cabernet
Penfolds Club Port (goes beside my lazy boy for that last sip at night)

39

The line up at home.
IMG_20130106_204411.jpg

40

Hazy Blur: Nose of crushed blackberries, earth, smoke and spice. It’s still a youngster. Spicy blackberry with tannins and acidity present and balanced. The fruit is slightly sweet up front but dries as the acidity grips 10 or so seconds into the 30 second + finish. This on a pop and pour. It’s elegant and tantalizing with the legs that indicate several more years of cellaring.