The Auswine Forum

Hi All,

My mother has recently decided to give up drinking for health reasons so I have been allowed to 'take possession' of here small but quite nice collection. I thought I'd post the list here for you guys to have a look at and comment on. I'm particularly interested if there are any gems here (beside the obvious Henschke ones) and which ones would be past their best, in their prime, etc.

Thanks!

Wynns Cab Sauv 1989
Wynns ‘John Riddoch’ Cab Sauv 1998
Rosemount Estate ‘Balmoral’ McLaren Vale Syrah 1996 (x2)
Henschke ‘Cyril Henschke’ 1995
Henschke ‘Hill of Grace’ 1987
Henschke ‘Hill of Grace’ 1990
Henschke ‘Keyneton Estate’ 1990
Henschke ‘Mount Edelstone’ 1995
Henschke ‘Lenswood – Abbotts Prayer’ 1990 & 1994
Penfolds RWT 1997
Penfolds Bin 389 1998
Penfolds Bin 389 1999
Penfolds Bin 407 Cab Sav 1996
Lindemans ‘Limestone Ridge’ Coonawarra Shirz/Cab 1999
Lindemans ‘St. George’ Coonawarra Cab Sav 1996
Sandalford Shiraz 1996
Redman Coonawarra Cab Merlot 1998
Frankland Estate Cab Sav 1996
Peter Lehmann Cab Sav Barossa 1991
Taylors Cab Sav 1989
Orlando ‘Russet Ridge’ Coonawarra Cab/Shiraz/Merlot 1991
Rockford Cab Sav 1988
Salena Estate Merlot 1999
‘John James McWilliams’ Cab Sav 1995
Wolf Blass ‘Grey Label’ Cab Sav 2002
Goundrey Cab Merlot 2001
James Haselgrove ‘Futures’ Shiraz McLaren Vale 1991

Rmack: You are a lucky soul!!

While many of your list is of well known names alot of them do have some years on them and could/ and should well be past their best IMO.

While it is very hard to determine the condition of your Mother's wines i generally think these should be 'safe' and are developing nicely or are at 'ready to drink' status:

Wynn's JR
Henschke CH /HOG's/ Mt ED/ ABB PR
Penfold's 389/407
Lindeman's Limestone & St George
Redman Cab Merlot
Wolf Blass Grey Label

What sort of cellaring has your Mother had??
Did she buy many of these on release??


ross

ross67 wrote:Rmack: You are a lucky soul!!

While many of your list is of well known names alot of them do have some years on them and could/ and should well be past their best IMO.

While it is very hard to determine the condition of your Mother's wines i generally think these should be 'safe' and are developing nicely or are at 'ready to drink' status:

Wynn's JR
Henschke CH /HOG's/ Mt ED/ ABB PR
Penfold's 389/407
Lindeman's Limestone & St George
Redman Cab Merlot
Wolf Blass Grey Label

What sort of cellaring has your Mother had??
Did she buy many of these on release??


ross

Your mother bought well. Given decent cellaring conditions I dont think that many of the wines should be past their best drinking. It just depends whether you like aged wines but i would love to sit down witn you and drink any of them! There are some gems there.

The 1990 Henschke Hill of Grace is a wine that needs disposing of in an environmentally friendly way

I own a company that deals exclusively with the proper disposal of this wine "1990 Hill of Grace Disposal inc"

To gain some publicity I would be willing to do deal to this free of charge. Drop me a PM as I can't afford to do this for everybody

Craig(NZ) wrote:The 1990 Henschke Hill of Grace is a wine that needs disposing of in an environmentally friendly way

I own a company that deals exclusively with the proper disposal of this wine "1990 Hill of Grace Disposal inc"

To gain some publicity I would be willing to do deal to this free of charge. Drop me a PM as I can't afford to do this for everybody

Along the same lines as Craig... Give me $10... Mmm, actually you seem like a nice enough fella... Make it $5 and I'll dispose of the lot. I'll even come pick them up.

But seriously. If you like aged wine and they have been stored correctly then you're in for a treat. Start tucking into some now. Most are in their drinking window. A few are past it but if stored correctly would be great. However if you don't like aged wines you could make a tidy little profit if you put them to auction at sterling or langtons.

Your Mum knew a bit (quite a lot) about wine I reckon. Good wines apart from the 1987 and 1989s and she was smart enough to stop buying RWT after one vintage! Briefly for the wines I have tried or tried enough of other vintages ...

Wynns Cab Sauv 1989 - drink up, probably a bit tired now.
Wynns ‘John Riddoch’ Cab Sauv 1998 - Immortal, will last another 10 years +. No one knows what it will be like ... keep waiting.
Rosemount Estate ‘Balmoral’ McLaren Vale Syrah 1996 (x2) - very nice wine, drink or keep.
Henschke ‘Cyril Henschke’ 1995 - nice now.
Henschke ‘Hill of Grace’ 1987 - poor vintage, sell at auction for the $.
Henschke ‘Hill of Grace’ 1990 - a great wine, sell it for a fortune or drink on a special occasion. Your call ...
Henschke ‘Keyneton Estate’ 1990 - probably very good, still. Drink.
Henschke ‘Mount Edelstone’ 1995 - drink or hold, very good wine.
Henschke ‘Lenswood – Abbotts Prayer’ 1990 & 1994 - drink up.
Penfolds RWT 1997 - ? on quality but probably give it another few years.
Penfolds Bin 389 1998 - hold for 10 years. Very good wine.
Penfolds Bin 389 1999 - hold for 5 years. Good wine.
Penfolds Bin 407 Cab Sav 1996 - drink or hold, good wine.
Lindemans ‘Limestone Ridge’ Coonawarra Shirz/Cab 1999 - good wine, maybe the last good one I remember. Drink or hold for 5 years.
Lindemans ‘St. George’ Coonawarra Cab Sav 1996 - Probably drinking well now but no hurry (?)
Peter Lehmann Cab Sav Barossa 1991 - drink up.

A lot depends on storage really ... I guess a well stored 1990 Hill of Grace might go for $500 at auction . If I were you I would send the two HoGs to auction and drink the rest.

What would a bl**dy Pom know anyway?

Cheers -- Jay

Nice little stash. Your mother must be kicking herself giving this lot away. You should share the 90 HOG with her as her last drink before giving up so that at least it's a memorable one.

As for the list, my thoughts are as follows:

Wynns Cab Sauv 1989 Drink, probably past it but you never know.
Wynns ‘John Riddoch’ Cab Sauv 1998. Wait 10 years
Rosemount Estate ‘Balmoral’ McLaren Vale Syrah 1996 (x2) try one now the other might go a little longer.
Henschke ‘Cyril Henschke’ 1995 Drink within 5 years
Henschke ‘Hill of Grace’ 1987 Probably in its drinking window now.
Henschke ‘Hill of Grace’ 1990 Drink with your mum or keep another 10 years
Henschke ‘Keyneton Estate’ 1990 Drink - should be good.
Henschke ‘Mount Edelstone’ 1995 Drink in next 3 years.
Henschke ‘Lenswood – Abbotts Prayer’ 1990 & 1994 Drink soonish.
Penfolds RWT 1997 Wait 3 years
Penfolds Bin 389 1998 Wait 5-10 years
Penfolds Bin 389 1999 Wait 5 years
Penfolds Bin 407 Cab Sav 1996 Drink now or within 2 years
Lindemans ‘Limestone Ridge’ Coonawarra Shirz/Cab 1999 Drink now to 5 years
Lindemans ‘St. George’ Coonawarra Cab Sav 1996 Drink now to 2 years
Sandalford Shiraz 1996 Drink now - might be past it.
Redman Coonawarra Cab Merlot 1998 Drink now but these are sometimes long lived.
Frankland Estate Cab Sav 1996 Drink now.
Peter Lehmann Cab Sav Barossa 1991 Drink now - you might be lucky with this but it's probably past it.
Taylors Cab Sav 1989 Should be long past it. Drink immediately.
Orlando ‘Russet Ridge’ Coonawarra Cab/Shiraz/Merlot 1991 Drink now - you might be lucky with this but it's probably past it.
Rockford Cab Sav 1988 I had a 96 the other night and I'd say this is probably past it. the 96 was quite developed.
Salena Estate Merlot 1999 I've not heard of this but I'd say drink now.
‘John James McWilliams’ Cab Sav 1995 I've not heard of this either but I'd say drink now
Wolf Blass ‘Grey Label’ Cab Sav 2002 now or next 2 years.
Goundrey Cab Merlot 2001 Now or next 2 years
James Haselgrove ‘Futures’ Shiraz McLaren Vale 1991 Probably past it but you might be lucky - drink now.

Hope that helps and enjoy your good fortune.

Thanks for the info guys. cellaring hasn't been ideal but i think sufficient. and yes she bought the majority on release i believe.

as an update, i've started going through the wines that you guys have suggested are well past their best. Unsurprisingly most were The Peter Lehmann 1991, Selena 1999 Merlot, and James Haselgrove Futures Shiraz 1991 were all pretty much undrinkable.

The John James McWilliams 1995 cabernet seems to be drinkable, but probably on the wrong side of it's best. I've got it decanting at the moment.

I think i'll try the Orlando, Rockford, Sandalford, Taylors and Frankland Estate. The rest i'll leave and decide whether to drink or auction. I do like aged wine but when I could sell the 87 HoG and get maybe three recent release Cullen Cabs...mmm. We'll see!

I really need to get some more exposure to aged wines so that I can more confidently know what can be expected on the nose and palate. Does anyone know of any way to do this other than spending a lot of money on auctions? Courses perhaps?


Rob.

rmack wrote:Thanks for the info guys. cellaring hasn't been ideal but i think sufficient. and yes she bought the majority on release i believe.

as an update, i've started going through the wines that you guys have suggested are well past their best. Unsurprisingly most were The Peter Lehmann 1991, Selena 1999 Merlot, and James Haselgrove Futures Shiraz 1991 were all pretty much undrinkable.

The John James McWilliams 1995 cabernet seems to be drinkable, but probably on the wrong side of it's best. I've got it decanting at the moment.

I think i'll try the Orlando, Rockford, Sandalford, Taylors and Frankland Estate. The rest i'll leave and decide whether to drink or auction. I do like aged wine but when I could sell the 87 HoG and get maybe three recent release Cullen Cabs...mmm. We'll see!

I really need to get some more exposure to aged wines so that I can more confidently know what can be expected on the nose and palate. Does anyone know of any way to do this other than spending a lot of money on auctions? Courses perhaps?


Rob.

You could look at getting yourself in a tasting group like we have done. Everyone brings wines along, according to some theme, and everyone gets a decent taste. You get to try many aged wines, because wine enthusiasts usually collect wines specifically for aging.
Langtons is good if you need to backfill...and I have had very few bad bottles through Langtons so far (touch wood)