{cork, 12.5%} {Graeme} Developing nose. Yeasty aromas, with a faint cheesy note. The palate is medium/full-bodied, rich with chardonnay fruit, brioche and sourdough flavours. Medium-sized creamy bubbles, generous flavour; a fairly broad texture but still refreshing. Long even finish. Pretty good effort which doesn’t miss the pinot; not always the case with blanc de blanc.

{screwcap, 12.5%} {Bruce} Deep yellow. Aging nose of custard apple aromas. Some call kerosene; I don’t find it off-putting to the extent it’s present. I know Ken Helm is unequivocal in his condemnation of it as a fault. The palate here is rich and ripe. The remnants of the acid support the custard and apple flavours; it’s not so dominated by overt citrus as many of the standard-bearer local Rieslings but I find it all the better for it. Medium-bodied, medium-long dry finish. Very good; will age longer but I think it’s at its best over the next few years.

{screwcap, 10.5%} {Glenn} Surprisingly pale lemon/straw colour for something a decade old. The nose is quite developed, smelling of smoke, dust earth, even oak (which is deceptive ; there’s none here). The palate has both grassy and nutty (not oxidised) flavours, with even a nod to sherry, yet it’s crisp in texture, with a sandpapery/grapeskin aspect too. Medium acid, medium body. Overall, still a bit reticent; suggests it’s a long way off maturity yet.

{screwcap, 13.5%} {Greg} Developing aromas; all currants and coconut oak. Partly developed on the palate, with dusty cassis cabernet fruit, medium weight, medium dusty tannins. Has some decent presence on the mid-palate and a medium length finish, but feels to lack depth and concentration. Katnook had some kind of corporate upheaval early in the century affecting vineyard sources among other things; if you call this disappointing it’s as much for its failure to live up to te reputation of the 90s wines as it is what’s in the glass tonight. Ready to drink; I doubt there’s any improvement left here.

{cork, 14.5%} {Guest - JP} Developing a bit less than you might expect for 10 years of age; the aromas are all sweet plums and confected liquorice. It’s medium-bodied, with, plum jam flavours and trademark vanilla oak. Low/medium tannins. Pleasantly flavoured, sweetly-fruited. The palate is balanced to fruit rather than structure; this seems to have plenty more aging in it, but not a lot of complexity. Of course by the time Grange, St Henri, RWT, Bin 389 have had their pick of SA shiraz fruit, things are getting a little bare for the once-mighty Bin 28. And a few vintages later Bin 150 will cannibalize it further, so this was one of the last hurrahs for this label.

{vinolok, 14.5%} {Gordon} Barely developing, restrained nose of pippy, spicy, peppery shiraz. The palate is beautifully put together; seamless and still tight. All the medium boxes get a tick; acid, dusty tannin, weight. The spicy palate is leavened with a little red jammy sweetness; there’s also a bit of pure dusty earth too. Medium-long even finish; seems to have a least another decade of improvement ahead of it.

{500ml, cork, 8.0%, AP 27 12} {Graeme} Fairly deep yellow-gold. Very youthful nose of citrus and nectarines. Becomes progressively more tropical (pineapple, passionfruit) as it sits in the glass. The palate is syrupy , honeyed, and sweet as you might expect, with a little steeliness of flavour too, but not enough to suggest minerals, schist, or indeed much acid; if this has a fault it’s that the acidity isn’t quite up to the job of keeping the staggering sugar level suitable fresh. Medium/full-bodied, and with a fairly long finish too; in fairness it’s a decent offering for a grape with such a compromised genetic heritage.