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The Wine thread

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Originally posted by Dry Rot

And Bill Chambers should be declared a National Treasure.
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Hear, hear.

The visit to his vineyard restores your faith in humanity. His wines carry the most plain, unfashionable label imaginable. The winery has been in his family for over a hundred years. Quite rightly, he sees no reason to change.

Mate of mine managed to find some vintages of his famous cab savs, of which he didn't retain examples. He bought them from my mate. I suppose if you've done that many vintages you wouldn't have samples of them all.

The other reason to visit his winery is that he's such a lovely, unassuming bloke. You'd never know he was one of the greatest winemakers that ever lived. I'm afraid the trend to marketing has passed him by, thus the labels. To me, he looks upon himself as just another primary producer, without the bull**** which is now attached to winemaking.

If this has the hallmarks of a free ad., that's because it is.

BTW, his reds are splendiferous and they react magnificently to age, in a most subtle way.
 
Originally posted by Dry Rot
What vintages are your Granges?

A word of caution - like any wine, they are not immortal, and pre 1980 vintages are either well past their best or gone (despite the silly auction prices). Even Penfolds are recommending that the optimal time for keeping most of the Granges from the last 15 years is 10 - 15 years from vintage.

Nothing worse than keeping a good or great wine too long in the cellar.

Also raises the question of how good your cellaring conditions are?
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My Granges are 1990's vintages, not old at all. Am looking at either getting them profesionaly cellared, or buying my own dedicated wine fridge(about $700 i think).
 
Originally posted by skilts


I'm afraid the trend to marketing has passed him by, thus the labels. To me, he looks upon himself as just another primary producer, without the bull**** which is now attached to winemaking.
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I gotta agree on that, because as a diehard wine fan I can't help but feel alienated by the snob appeal, gloss and marketing hype that seems so associated with wine these days. I don't drink wine to show off or because it's "fashionable", I drink because I enjoy it. For me, it's about what's in the bottle, and nothing but.
 

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Where was I when this thread was doing the rounds?

Anyway, have around 450-600 bottles nestled away now, with about 350 of those in ideal, underground cellaring conditions, with the remaining stashed away in steady conditions inside. 95% of these would be red's, predominantly shiraz, with the white mainly being made up of reisling.

Only have one Grange '84, but also have a Henschke Hill of Grace ('88), a couple of Wolf Blass Platinums (both '92), a couple of Moss Wood Cab Sauv's ('98), but my pride and joy are the Wendouree Shiraz's (2 x '88s and 3 x '90s). Most of these have been picked up at auction, and a couple have been presents.

But as these are obviously known by most as the "premium wines" or thereabouts, there's no use banging on about them. They're only available to me once a year (annual bonus time), and definitely not something that would be drunk on a weekly, monthly or any other basis other than for a special occasion.

The Barossa, Clare and McLaren Vale have been delivering heaps over years and years, however, in the last two years, the Heathcote and Bendigo regions have blown me away with their rich, full-bodied shiraz's, all of a comparable, if not superior quality to the SA regions. A few those from there that you may want to keep your eye out for (and are quite affordable):

- Bress Gold Chook '03 Shiraz
- Chateau Laemon '03 Reserve Shiraz
- Anything from Blackjack (even their Cab/Merlot is great)
- Mt Burrumboot Reserve Shiraz and Heathcote Shiraz
- Sanguine Estate Heathcot Shiraz '03

Although not from the central Victoria region, I agree with whoever mentioned the Penfolds Bin range, and have loaded right up on the Kalimna 28 2002's, which are probably the best value wines going around at the moment.

I have only recently topped up on the white's, with grabbing a few Petaluma Reisling's to put down, however my white cellar is reasonably limited. If anyone comes across anything handy, feel free to post away.

I'll also let those here know of anything good I may stumble across. Happy drinking.
 
Dry Rot said:
A word of caution - like any wine, they are not immortal, and pre 1980 vintages are either well past their best or gone (despite the silly auction prices). Even Penfolds are recommending that the optimal time for keeping most of the Granges from the last 15 years is 10 - 15 years from vintage.
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Great advice :thumbsu:

I have seen some huge cellars with a large component of oxidised wine aka vinegar.

Always better to drink to early than too late. If in doubt - pop the cork!
 
Ive only just starting getting into wine in the last 12 months so dont have to much knowledge when it comes to this. So please keep this in mind when I ask this question:

What is the benefits in putting wine in a cellar for 10+ years?
 
Macca19 said:
Ive only just starting getting into wine in the last 12 months so dont have to much knowledge when it comes to this. So please keep this in mind when I ask this question:

What is the benefits in putting wine in a cellar for 10+ years?
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How long have you got ;)

Essentially, wines when they are young have a high level of acidity and varying amounts of fruit flavour and contact with wood (oak barrels in which they have been stored).

As a wine ages all of the components 'intergrate' somewhat giving the wine greater balance as well as the feeling of 'mellowing' somewhat.

Decanting a wine and allowing to breath can give a similar although limited similarity to ageing. Some people find that a good red will taste better a day or two after opening, this is also a sign that the wine will age well.

Don't knock yourself out over it, the more wine you drink the more you will find a preference to a particular style. Though I will say Australia makes some great value reds (sub-$15) that drink like premiums after a few years in the cellar. Likewise are greatest value variety, Riesling can also become a classical drink with some 'down time'

Hope that helps
 
Macca19 said:
Ive only just starting getting into wine in the last 12 months so dont have to much knowledge when it comes to this. So please keep this in mind when I ask this question:

What is the benefits in putting wine in a cellar for 10+ years?
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I recommend that you check out a few old reds (perhaps their charms are a bit more obvious than old whites (which I love).

1. Get some mates involved to defray the costs

2. Find a quality bottle shop with older wines that you rely on have been well cellared

3. Do some research on good/great South Australian vintages (accessible and cheaper than say Margaret River)

4, Ditto on widely available wines eg Penfolds Bin 28, Wynns Black label, D"arry's Original etc

5. Get a current release of whatever wine you select, and an aged one of the same wine

6. Properly decant and breathe, serve togeter - a "vertical tasting"


You'll be able to see how a wine has aged - your own time machine.
 
What is you favourite wine & what are you drinking at the moment?

My favourits cab sav at the moment are

St. Hugo & John Riddoch

Shiraz: Leasingham classic claire & Mt Langi Ghiran

White: Penfolda Yattana
 

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hahaha bloody hell....

Umm it's all about Pepperjack at the moment.
 
Expensive taste Crimson!

At the moment ive been drinking the Geoff Hardy K1 2001 Cabernet, Mr Riggs Tempranillo and Vasse Felix Semillon
 
Stanley Fresh Dry White all the way. Can't beat it with a dash of sno drop.
 

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budf23 said:
:thumbsu: 1998 Penfolds St Henri's dropped 4 bottles the other night, quality stuff
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When you say dropped please tell me you mean drank them not actually dropped on the ground :D
 

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