Doesn't seem worth dignifying with "TN". Anyway, at the office luncheon farewell to the retiring MD yesterday some lost-then-found magnums of 1995 Browns of Padthaway Shiraz were dug out of storage somewhere. 'Oh' I said to the office manager lady 'they'll probably be OK...'
Dangerous talk costs lives, they say. Very onionskin brown in colour, this wine (not sympathetically stored either) is headed towards oblivion. Lots of varnish & floor polish - still drinkable, but something of a shock to folks who not tried wines at the very end of their life. No doubt collapsing into volatility in the next year or two.
This was never-the-less still preferable, IMO, to the 2001 Wyndham Estate Bin 555 Shiraz. The nose on this wine is soft sweet oak, with a touch of gentle raspberry, but I can't get past what seems like kilograms of residual sugar on the palate. The wine has no detectable structure - acid is non-existent, and there seems to be little tannin, just an underlying harshness utterly drenched by lashings of sugar. Perhaps as the first step in converting cordial or soft drink consumers to wine it's appropriate - it certainly ensures they'll experience minimal changes in flavour profile. It was all I could do to finish my 80ml glass. Very sad - years ago Bin 555 was actually a drinkable wine. No longer. I don't know what it sells for (less than $10 surely), but I'm sure you could do better for the money.
cheers,
Graeme
Horrible swill, old and new
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lantana
"Very sad - years ago Bin 555 was actually a drinkable wine."
When was that? I've always regarded them as being in the style you describe, just as I've had similar feelings about it's "successor" McGuigan Black Shiraz, when Uncle Brian went on to do his wines under his own name. As winemakers go, he has to be Australia's best............ marketer!
lantana
When was that? I've always regarded them as being in the style you describe, just as I've had similar feelings about it's "successor" McGuigan Black Shiraz, when Uncle Brian went on to do his wines under his own name. As winemakers go, he has to be Australia's best............ marketer!
lantana
While on the topic of Wyndham Estate, I remember in my vinfancy being persuaded to buy some White Burgundy from this particular cellar door on my first Hunter valley trip. Urrghh! Never again have I tasted their wines.
The white burgundy we tasted was OK to my palate at the time, but on opening some of the others at a later date (in the next few weeks) it just wasn't the same. I'm not sure if they were poorly stored prior to us purchasing them or what. The other wines were mediocre at best.
Another life lesson.
The white burgundy we tasted was OK to my palate at the time, but on opening some of the others at a later date (in the next few weeks) it just wasn't the same. I'm not sure if they were poorly stored prior to us purchasing them or what. The other wines were mediocre at best.
Another life lesson.
Ciao,
michaelw
You know it makes sense!
michaelw
You know it makes sense!
That Wyndham Estate 555 was served at my partner's office party. I couldn't drink it. Just couldn't get past that residual sugar you mentioned. Yuk. Ended up changing designated drivers and drinking soft drink.
Life's too short eh?
Tony
PS I think this is my first post here
Life's too short eh?
Tony
PS I think this is my first post here
Conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
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David Lole
