Coldstream Hills Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1994

I dug up some old notes from late last year and will post a few of the more interesting ones. I had this wine with the delicious food at Oscillate Wildly in Newtown.

Really beautiful cool climate cabernet aromas of the leafy/cedary type, along with aged mushroomy characters, complex and changing in the glass over the course of the meal. On the palate, more of the same, but with a surprising amount of primary fruit flavour and vanillan oak. Tannins still a little prickly, and noticeable acidity still present, so it wasn't too late to drink the wine by any means. Not an overly structured wine, but nonetheless very much in proportion, with flavours moving through in a well ordered procession. The impression was mostly one of complexity, balance and coherence from smell to finish. Lovely wine.

Chateau Labergorge 1994

Margaux, Cru Bourgeois from what I can figure out. This wine was a gift from friend Larissa and, as she was in Brisbane last night for work, I decided to bring it along when we caught up with her for dinner.

First glass felt a little fruit-light, with aromas and tastes of stalk and caramelly oak predominating. Finish was a little drying too, although tannins were very refined. As we progressed through the meal (and the bottle), the wine opened up and the middle palate filled in with lovely soft red berry fruits. Medium bodied, with an overall impression of well structured softness. Nice wine.

Two aged reds

I'm trying to drink my cellar down at the moment, as the wine storage fees are a little excessive, and there's wine lying all over the boat. So, last night, in the name of good housekeeping, we had:

Ridge Geyserville 1994

This is the last bottle from the amazing Chinatown buyout Chris, Dan and myself effected a few years ago. I can't remember how many bottles we ended up buying, but I do know the last two bottles opened were very much over the hill, showing overwhelmingly unpleasant oxidised characters. So I didn't have very high hopes for this bottle.

What a wonderful surprise, then, to see a bright, not-overly-dense ruby red colour pour into my glass. Good start. The nose showed complexity and balance, flavours tending towards dusty, leathery sourness (the other half chimed in with "radishes!", which pretty much nails it). The palate delivered more of the same, plus the last vestiges of distinctive zinfandel fruit flavours, and, susprisingly, a light dusting of fine tannins. Very much in balance, lots of flavours swirling around in there, like some sort of beautiful yet sad last gasp.

Brands Coonawarra Shiraz 1998

Quite a different beast, this one. It's ageing quite well, but is a considerably younger wine, the balance of flavours still tipped more heavily towards fruit compared to the Ridge. I remember this wine being really enticing as a youngster, with that lovely clear, elegant fruit flavour profile that Coonawarra shiraz tends to have. So there's definite aged complexity developing, and the mix of flavours is relatively well balanced, but compared to the Ridge there's a clumsiness to this wine, a coarseness, that relates in particular to its structure, and perhaps to its mouthfeel also. Still, for less than $20 when purchased, not a bad performance. I have one of these left and will probably drink it soon.