TN: 1998 Fox Creek JSM

Friday is roast beast (or steak) night chez nous so I pulled one of these out.

IIRC the 'JSM' has zilch to do with the blend, it is the initials of James Stanley Malpas - see https://steemit.com/steempub/@bmj/the-s ... -1873-1937

It is a syrah cab sauv cab franc blend that varies each vintage and it has the stuffing to age well in decent vintages and 1998 was a notably good vintage. The wine is still a very dark purple and shows some nice development in the nose with sweet fruit and some cocoa, and the tannins are now resolved so that it drinks smoothly and shows some secondary/tertiary flavours. Lengthy finish. Very glad I waited 24 years on this one.

I had a bottle of the 1998 Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon last week. I was impressed at how youthful it was, with lots of time left, but drinking very well now. A very nice, medium bodied cab with lots of fruits and tannin left - not a fruitbomb.

Sounds like both 1998s were showing very nicely now.

[Jenise]

I loved that black label. Remember buying cases and cases of it at $10/bottle, absolutely remarkable quality for the price. I've never since, in fact, found anything anywhere close to replace it with.

I agree, it was quite the bargain back in the day. It was $20 here, but that was still a deal. And you could age them for many, many years, as the recent 1998 proved.

I still have some 96 Black Label, but ore to the point, I also have a couple of vintages of the Wynn's John Riddoch (91 ans 94). Sounds like we should put an all Aussie tasting on the calendar.

One that has never 'come around' is the 1992 Wolf Blass Black Label - steadfastly tannic and lean. Taltarni, OTOH is right in my wheelhouse - ages like a claret in many ways.

Nice Bill. Taltarni and Tahbilk feature in my buying aoap.