TN: 1995 Leasingham Shiraz Classic Clare

After I started in on some of my early 90s Aussie reds to check up on them, it seemed like a good idea to continue the theme.

This wine had been hibernating in the cellar since purchase. It was still a lovely deep ruby colour and had an interesting and complex range of things happening in the nose - blackberry, with hints of anise, then in the mouth there was also that plus some nice cocoa notes toward the end of a medium length finish. Not overdone, not too oaky, a balanced mature shiraz ready to go. Glad I waited.

[Jenise]

After reading your post on the '94 Henschke, I went slumming on WineBid and was rather surprised to discover that many 90's era Aussie wines are going for $200-500 nowadays, a strong uptick in value. I kinda thought only Grange did that.

Wow, the Leasingham Classic Clare name brings up a lot of memories. All the Classic Clare wines were very good and great QPR in their heyday. The shiraz was probably the best of the range, although their sparkling shiraz was also quite good. Leasingham was bought out by Treasury I think it was, maybe Constellation, and was dismantled in the 1990s. Its vineyards have all been sold off now (in the late 2000s), so it is a 'shadow' winery now.

I have around 10 cases of this sort of thing - next maybe a 1996 Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz E & E Black Pepper. I am delighted that my forbearance is being rewarded with these older wines.

[Jenise]

I just posted about a '95 Clare Valley cab blend. See my note "Attn Bill Spohn".