4 wonderful old Australian wines

[chillwrx]

It is not often I get to go through a cellar that has not been touched for ten years - I was asked to find 4 or 5 wines for a 64 th birthday party. I had many options from a non air conditioned cellar in brisbane and my expectations were not high as they wanted older wines - I had to ignore wines 15 years old and younger. My selections were

1990 Seppelt Dorrien
1992 Peter Lehman Stonewall
1997 Henschke mt edelstone
1998 Seppelt Dorrien

All had great fill levels and all had crumbly corks.

The 1990 Dorrien was weeping slightly and whilst past its best was very drinkable.
The 1992 Stonewall was a revelation - still was very smooth but great structure. Wonderful older Shiraz.
The 1997 Mt Edelstone was even better -still had incredible power but also finesse- non wine enthusiasts thought it Pinot like. Extra ordinary wine given its previous storage.
The 1998 Dorrien should have been the strongest performer but it was pretty one dimensional - a nice wine but nothing special.

Looking forward to opening some of the other wines that I thought might be be past it - several granges from 76 onwards, Yarra yering dry red 1 91 onwards, lakes folly from 98 onwards. Many wonderful options before you look at the rockfords, at be dis and others.

The Henschke was the best but the Stonewall was an awesome wine - probably 98 and 95 respectively. The mt edelstone 97 is probably the best wine I have had in a long time and considering the vintage it proves what a raffle old wines can be.

[felixp]

I mentioned this in another post recently.... 1997 is a vastly under-rated vintage in SA, and a lot of the wines are drinking better than the far more heralded 96 and 98 vintages. Stupidly, I listened to the "experts" and not the wine-makers, and own virtually zero.

[Mike Hawkins]

I mentioned this in another post recently.... 1997 is a vastly under-rated vintage in SA, and a lot of the wines are drinking better than the far more heralded 96 and 98 vintages. Stupidly, I listened to the "experts" and not the wine-makers, and own virtually zero.

But in 5 + years you'll be patting yourself on the back for having bought the 96 and 98s......

[phillisc]

Yes Mike agree that 96 and 98 are top of the tree.
However, having a lad who was born in 97 ensured that I got a few.

Cheers
Craig

[Bytown Rick]

The 1990 Dorrien was weeping slightly and whilst past its best was very drinkable.
The 1998 Dorrien should have been the strongest performer but it was pretty one dimensional - a nice wine but nothing special.

That's disappointing. Anyone tried the 1996 lately?>

Rick

[felixp]

yea, I had the 96 Grand Final eve (so 5 months ago)
just an incredible wine, keeps on keeping on, you certainly can drink now but there is no rush. That and the Orlando Jacaranda Ridge are my two best Aussie cabs in 96, which was either a very good or great vintage across virtually the entire country.

[Mike Hawkins]

The 1990 Dorrien was weeping slightly and whilst past its best was very drinkable.
The 1998 Dorrien should have been the strongest performer but it was pretty one dimensional - a nice wine but nothing special.

That's disappointing. Anyone tried the 1996 lately?>

Rick

I had two bottles last year and both were fantastic drinking. Perhaps my favourite Dorrien cabs ever

[Mike Hawkins]

Yes Mike agree that 96 and 98 are top of the tree.
However, having a lad who was born in 97 ensured that I got a few.

Cheers
Craig

I guess i was a bit like Felix... Heard the hype of 96 and 98 and loaded up, and heard the negativity around 97 and tended to avoid it...

[Mahmoud Ali]

Interesting to hear the comments about the '97s vs '98. I recall hearing about how well the '97s were drinking roughly about when they were five years old. The 1998 vintage was highly rated but Jeremy Oliver, in one of his OnWine annuals, thought that many wines didn't live up to the vintage's potential.

For my own part I'm feel more confident with the 1996 vintage - it's the one I think has the best potential in the long run.

Mahmoud.

[Bytown Rick]

I had two bottles last year and both were fantastic drinking. Perhaps my favourite Dorrien cabs ever

Thanks Mike.