WTN: Attention Bill Spohn!

[Jenise]

Your foray into old Aussies encouraged me to open this:

1995 Grosset Gaia Clare Valley Red Bordeaux Blend
Lovely wine. 75% cabernet, 20% cab franc and 5% merlot. Decanted to remove sediment, of which there was just a 2 or 3 little chunks and no silt. Good burnished red color. Tannins mostly resolved, and good from the first pour but best about an hour later. Best possible combination of maturing fruit and leathery tertiary qualities. Will hold but excellent now.

I think it is about time we did an Australian tasting lunch, even if only the two of us show up!

I'm in! I know several other people do not seem to be keen on this option at all...

I'm in! I know several other people do not seem to be keen on this option at all...

Heck with 'em!

I can put up a four vintage vertical of Penfolds 707 from 1991 on if you supply a kangaroo for the BBQ!

For me, Australian wines went 'bad' in the early 2000s - all sweet ripe fruit and no staying power. I stopped buying them back then and have only strayed a little with some late teens Montalto Pinots. I blame the reviewers who lavished praise on these over fruited but poor structured wine styles.

Let's see if we can muster enough enthusiasm to get an Old Aussie lunch theme - we can discuss it at the next lunch (16th, Northern Rhones). I know of a couple of places that supply Aussie specialty food including kangaroo!

[Jenise]

I'm game. The whole Aussie problem came from certain clowns falling over backward to impress Parker and his acolytes--the Aussie wines specifically targeting the American market with plush, ripe fruit were initially a minority, as I understand it. Certainly I had many, many, many beautiful wines in Australia (like this Grosset) that don't fit the Tait Ball Buster, MollyDooker mold at all. Hilariously, they shot themselves in the foot--nowadays the only Australian wines (beyond Yellow Tail) sold in my area are Ball Buster and MollyDooker.

Btw Bill, the Fox Creek, where IYO does the Fox Creek fit in? I find them rather ripe and sappy. They have more tannins and have survived well, but the couple I've had from your cellar in the last 2 or 8 months strike me as being closer to what you say you don't like than what you do. Que pasa?

I like the Fox Creek Shiraz more than I do their blend (JSM) - do you recall which you had here? (probably the JSM)

Also have up for tasting some old Tahbilk, Wolf Blass, Taltarni etc. (am sitting on something like 11 cases of 2000 and prior (as opposed to maybe 4 cases after that date). Wanna see my Dead Arm?

[Jenise]

I like the Fox Creek Shiraz more than I do their blend (JSM) - do you recall which you had here? (probably the JSM)

Also have up for tasting some old Tahbilk, Wolf Blass, Taltarni etc. (am sitting on something like 11 cases of 2000 and prior (as opposed to maybe 4 cases after that date). Wanna see my Dead Arm?

Wow, that's a LOT. I probably more than a case, but less than 2.

You've served both over time. The fruit's always been somewhat sappy, very new world with that malty, lactic thing typical of McClaren Vale wines. They wouldn't 'pass' like the Haan you brought to Manny's, or this Grosset we had last week. Which one did you bring to the OK? Was it the Shiraz?

They wouldn't 'pass' like the Haan you brought to Manny's, or this Grosset we had last week. Which one did you bring to the OK? Was it the Shiraz?

It was the Wilhelmus, a Bordeaux blend.