1995 Charles Melton Nine Popes

1995 Charles Melton Nine Popes
An Aussie GSM that has gotten decent press over the years. This is still a pretty decent wine but it is largely unevolved since the last time I had it. The tannins have pretty much disappeared but the taste remains largely primary with cherry and other red fruits, some acidity in the mid-palette and a moderate finish. Not a bad wine by any means but not really worth cellaring for this length of time. Very Good/VG+

Hi Robert
This can be the issue with cellaring 'some' South Australian wines. Even if they (as a great many do) last well in the cellar, a good number don't seem to gain much complexity, rather just end up fading slowly away. Oddly this would be one I might expect some aged complexity to creep into, though in truth I don't think I cellared my 2-3 bottles more than 6-8 years. True this can happen the world over, but it seems South Aussie is a little bit more susceptical to it.
regards
Ian

Ian,

I was probably a bit hasty in my rather downbeat note of a couple of days ago. The problem is that this wine still has Aussie Eucalyptus in spades, especially on opening, so that is all one gets on opening. My wife, who is just a bit less geeky than me, said, "Don't tell me! This has to be Australian!" on first taste. But, a day later, there are signs of some secondary tastes, the eucalyptus has receded and it is a more impressive wine. It is at least as good as a Domaine de la Mordoree Reine des Bois CdP 1996 that I opened tonight as a comparison. Very, very different wines but the Charlie held the edge largely because there is now a slightly weak finish to the Mordoree.

Regards,

Robert

[Jenise]

Never been able to warm up to the Nine Popes, finding it too lactic-oaky when young. But for years I thought his Rose of Virginia was one of the world's greatest roses; we may have discussed that, in a prior life.

Never been able to warm up to the Nine Popes, finding it too lactic-oaky when young. But for years I thought his Rose of Virginia was one of the world's greatest roses; we may have discussed that, in a prior life.

Indeed, and a Rose that gets better with time.

[Jenise]

Never been able to warm up to the Nine Popes, finding it too lactic-oaky when young. But for years I thought his Rose of Virginia was one of the world's greatest roses; we may have discussed that, in a prior life.

Indeed, and a Rose that gets better with time.

Do you still buy it/see it? I haven't had any since the Huntington Beach years, and even then I couldn't always find it. Can't recall if John Gorman was the importer on that or not.

Never been able to warm up to the Nine Popes, finding it too lactic-oaky when young. But for years I thought his Rose of Virginia was one of the world's greatest roses; we may have discussed that, in a prior life.

Indeed, and a Rose that gets better with time.

Do you still buy it/see it? I haven't had any since the Huntington Beach years, and even then I couldn't always find it. Can't recall if John Gorman was the importer on that or not.

I haven't seen it in ages (I think I got mine from WineX, but they don't carry it anymore), though I saw from WineSearcher that I can find the 2004 at a shop near me. I'm tempted at $12. Later vintages are available, and I'm tempted to order a few, as the complexity of this Rose can be amazing.