'Aged Aussies' Dinner

Ten of us got together to celebrate the ageing potential of Aussie reds and whites.....extremely generous contributions from everyone.

• NV Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru VP 91 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Crisp, light, very fresh, mouthwatering, but also with some leesy weight.....a lovely aperitif Champagne that never disappoints.

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Accompanied by some super 'starters' of fresh anchovies sashimi-style, a salad trio of beetroot, heirloom tomatoes and sucrine, and cured salmon with fresh dill.....also lots of fresh-baked Italian Grissini.

• 1999 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay Art Series 92 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Served blind. Silver green/gold. Grassy, fresh mown hay nose, new bicycle inner tubes. Palate is beautifully fresh acidity, citric, moreish. Touch of dry sweetness. Really nice. Apparently this may be an atypically good bottle because the winery had replaced the original cork with a stelvin screwcap at some stage. 92+

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• 1997 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay Art Series 90 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Served blind alongside the 1999. Very deep gold but looks bright. Crisp nose that belies its colour. Palate is again surprisingly fresh and classic light Chardonnay. Some moderate length and reverberance. Apparently the vintage that decided Denis Horgan to adopt screw cap. This is a cork stoppage. The difference between this and the much better screw cap 1999 was significant.

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• 2014 Cullen Wines Chardonnay Kevin John Moon Opposite Saturn Harvest 95 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Served blind. Medium gold quite bright and with depth. Nose is beautiful unsalted butter... very elegant and more-ish. Palate is super-elegant. Quite special. Weightless honey. Power without weight. Very resonant and reverberant. Lots of comparisons with top white Burgundy even though we knew it was Australian. Very close to silence-creating. Possibly the best Australian Chardonnay I have drank....but at a price not for the faint-hearted, for sure.

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• 2013 Mount Pleasant Wines Sémillon Single Vineyard Lovedale 88 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Served blind. Very light silver gold colour. Nose is new bicycle tyres. Palate is very light. Citric. No length. Seemed lightweight in tonight's line-up but nothing wrong with it if drank on its own.

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• 2004 Petaluma Chardonnay Tiers 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Piccadilly Valley

  Served blind. Advanced deep gold. Caramel notes and toffee. Palate is similar... ripe melon with toffee poured over it and some marshmallows. Nicely buzzy on the finish. Interesting progression from when I last drank it 11 years ago but it is now over-mature. The best was probably somewhere in between.

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• 1999 Tim Adams Sémillon 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  Served blind. Deep aged gold. Nose is older...heavier, slightly honeyed, honeysuckle in warm evening air. Palate is nicely weighted and balanced, burnt Orange skin, mandarin orange. Smoky. Heady. Needs food. Lots of depth. Good length. Very distinctive. Not sure it’s quite my bag....others liked it more. Thanks, Jeremy!

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Accompanied by duo of grilled beef flank and T-bone, with beautiful simple boiled potatoes and really unusual whole-steamed cauliflower heads.

• 1972 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri Claret 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Transparent but brightly jeweled amber. Nose is fresh black plum with some kumquat in the background. Lots more going on too. Palate is slightly toffied and very rounded in the mouth. Good length. Still has lots of life. I love the way the label uses the Imperial measurement - 1 Pint, 6 Fl. Oz. - very Commonwealth. Wow....what a treat!

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• 1972 Henschke Shiraz Hill of Grace 95 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley

  Museum release. Transparent slightly dusky amber. Nose is delicate red berries and Chinese 'gai tsi' dates. Palate is beautifully sweet and sumptuous, very meaty, chewy, sumptuous. Chocolate and raspberry jam, as someone commented. A sweetness that almost suggests it has been fortified (which it isn’t). Gosh... this is lovely. Wow...this has sent me down Alice’s rabbit hole into silence-creating territory. 95+ Thanks Patrick!

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• 1971 Penfolds Bin 389 95 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Still almost opaque dusky red lightening at the edges. Nose is a wow! of candied, jammy red fruits...particularly raspberry and confit strawberry. Palate is bright, alive, good black and red fruit... still fresh if slightly confit. Wow.... on the edge of silence creating. So long and alive. 95+

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• 1965 Lindeman's Shiraz Bin 3110 97 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Semi-transparent red/black. Nose is slightly reticent but it is all there hidden in the background... lovely depth of fruit and sun-warmed asphalt. Palate is so fresh acidity and amazingly bright with ridiculously still-fresh berries fruit. Elegant and so long on the finish. A very complete wine and ridiculously young for a 1965. Oh gosh....97. A very rare score for me. I think this was everyone's WOTN but in a very tight grouping of three other beautiful contenders.

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More steak and some rack of lamb

• 1986 Penfolds Shiraz Magill Estate 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Plains

  Semi transparent brightly jeweled ruby. Nose is earthy spice. Palate is gorgeous- so fresh and vibrant. Great resonance. Brought back memories of drinking this with Runny at Zambuca in Singapore in 2008. This was a way superior bottle, assuming reconditioned or museum release.

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Still more steak and some rack of lamb

• 1992 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Ridiculously dark and impenetrably black. Nose is sun-warmed black tar , black liquorice and star anise. Very deep black fruit. Palate is WOW... such a huge depth and succulence of fruit, wonderful acidity and freshness. Lots of black fruit and spice. The spice is a lovely note. Good length. Left me feeling very mellow. 94 easy and massively better than a bottle drank in September 2020 (91 pts). Thanks, Daniel!

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• 1997 Mount Mary Quintet 92 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  One of my contributions. Double-decanted some hours in advance. Good cork. Transparent lovely bright medium amber. Nose is fresh dates and raisins. Some spice. Coffee grounds. Palate is a little thin but good acidity and an immediate jolt of resonance in the back of the head. Nose has mellowed and is much more feminine now after 9 hours from opening. Palate is soft and mellow. Very nice but has lost its promise of greater potential. But this is probably the best bottle I have drank and makes me wonder if I have miscalculated its ageing potential. Others rated this considerably higher. Last of a case. 92+

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• 1998 Henschke Cyril Henschke 95 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley

  Surprisingly transparent. Nose is mint and mint. Palate is perfect Cabernet blend.... could easily be mistaken for Bordeaux. Sweetness of fruit. Loads of body. Great length. Wow...enormous length and depth. Gosh.

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• 1998 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Medium semi-transparent garnet colour. Nose is eucalyptus, black/red fruit, cigar box, cedar....nicely layered. Palate is elegant and quite feminine with super freshness, fruit and balance. Considerable resonance and reverberance 'inside the head' on the long finish. Really enjoyable and with a good few years ahead of it.

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• 1996 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Kalimna Block 42 95 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Deep impenetrable black/red. Nose is gorgeously lifted Cabernet fruit and some spice dust and cedar. Palate is fresh, alive and very classic Cabernet. Young and elegant. Years ahead of it. Nicely resonant and reverberant on the finish. This is very European in ambiance. Gorgeous.

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• 2001 Henschke Cyril Henschke 93 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley

  More faded in colour than the 1998 drank alongside it. Nose is coal tar soap, quite reticent. Lovely balance and elegance. Palate is really fresh, lifted and a gorgeous expression of Cabernet Sauvignon in its feminine guise....which might seem like a contradiction for an Aussie but definitely isn't with this wine.

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Mainly accompanied by cheese.

• 1998 Noon Shiraz Reserve 92 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek

  Dark bulls blood colour. Deep and brooding nose of black fruits and echoes of spice. Palate is beautifully tannic, linear, black fruits. Needs more time or a long decant. Very dark chocolate. Lovely but needs more time.

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• 1997 Torbreck RunRig 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Semi-transparent ruby colour. Nose is lovely linear violets and bulls blood. Palate is iron-driven blood with a lot of fruit behind it.. black cherry. Massive depth. Quite contemplative. This left me wanting more in the future. It has years ahead of it to evolve and improve. 94+

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• 1998 Elderton Shiraz Single Vineyard Command 93 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa

  One of my contributions. Decanted for 2 hours then re-bottled and served 7 hours later. Broken cork. Deep red/purple colour. Nose of burnt getaway car trees, red asphalt, eucalyptus, a nice green capsicum element emerges with time in the glass. quite high-toned. Palate is very rich and deep, stollen cake, fresh raisins, super depth and layers of black and red cherry fruit, some cherry liqueur too. Beautiful fruit. Muscular but quite elegant. Very powerfully long, resonant and reverberant on the finish. Delighted how it has unfurled since I last drank it in 2013 when it was a sullen adolescent. Very long life ahead of it. 93+

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This got opened and poured at 12.38am according to my notes.....

• 1993 Henschke Cyril Henschke 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley

  Deep opaque red/black colour. Nose is lifted, fresh blackcurrant, some green capsicum, very lifted and fresh. Palate is wow...so fresh, lifted, perfect linear Cabernet Sauvignon in a classic Bordeaux blend. Love the freshness and greenness. So young. Years ahead of it. If you want a wine that says 'Australia takes on Bordeaux' then this is it. All the more impressive as it was opened in the wee small hours after 21 preceding wines. 94 easy. Thanks, Joseph!

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Wow, what an evening.....thanks everyone!