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

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+

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

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+

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.

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.

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!

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+

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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+

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+

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!