WTN: 50th B'day Wines - Haag, Penfolds 80A, Coutet, Morris

One of my best friend's turned 50 on Thursday and 14 of us went out to a surprise dinner at the Ridge Restaurant (Canberra, very good, not great, but, seemingly, always reliable).

He and his daughter came (late) without grog (prearranged) so I brought 4 bottles (as his birthday present).

Memory vibes only on the following :

Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese Riesling 1983 - still fresh and lively with a delectable core of sweet peach/nectarine/citrussy fruit and wonderful acidity to provide counterbalance. 92

Penfolds 1980 Bin 80A Cabernet/Shiraz - the visual condition was nigh-on perfect (colour, level, capsule and label). The cork disintegrated upon opening. Held a good colour for the age but the nose and palate were simply not a patch on the bottle I opened last year. A very good drink but that's about it (still displayed some attractive, still youthful, sweet fruit, lively acidity and melting tannin) but ohso typical of the well-documented inconsistency with this label. No more lotteries with this one for me. 87

Ch. Coutet 1981 - a real sleeper of a wine, this one. Perhaps my third bottle this year and every one has been super. Displays gorgeous aromatics, impeccable balance, wonderful line, still with plenty of reserves of fruit and acidity as well as a superb finish. Surprisingly quite a "big" wine for a Coutet (reknowned for their "elegance"). My, how well did this Barsac property do in this "unheralded" vintage! 93

Morris of Rutherglen Cellar Release Muscat - simply phenomenal. Incredibly lush with spicy jumbo raisans and Christmas cake (and many other splendid things) wrapped in a shroud of rancio, caramel oak; incredible viscosity providing a plush and decadent mouthfeel, then almost impossibly transposes to a cleansing, astringent-filled finish of enormous calibre and duration. 95

Some of the other guests let me have a sip of a couple of their wines - the 2006 Stonier's Chardonnay seemed very good with some nice barrel work on the nose and a palate that was a little flat to me but overall seemed an "ok" wine. The 1998 Orlando St. Hugo was very disappointing compared to what I remember of it in its youth (circa 92/93 points). The wonderful fruit has been replaced with an overabundance of pretty ugly oak - something that worried me (but not to the same extent as this) in the last bottle I opened some time ago. Either it's in a very bad phase or the wine is rooted. Might get 75 points if I was feeling very generous on last night's performance!

David,

What's the background for this Penfolds bottling, 1980 Bin 80A Cabernet/Shiraz ? I've not seen this bin label here.

David,

What's the background for this Penfolds bottling, 1980 Bin 80A Cabernet/Shiraz ? I've not seen this bin label here.

In the early 1960's, Penfolds winemaker, Max Schubert undertook to make a series of experimental wines which now assume the mantle of the "special bin range". In 1962, a fantastic vintage in South Australia, Max made a blend of Coonawarra Cabernet and Kalimna Shiraz called Bin 60A - now a legend of the Australian wine folklore - regarded by many as the best red wine ever made in this country, and although bottle variation and senility have become an understandable problem over the last decade or so, if from great provenance and dismissing the vagaries of the dreaded cork, can still be absolutely monumental to taste. His continued dabbling with these wines over this decsde produced some memorable results - Bin 61 from 1963, Bin 620 from 1966, Bin 7 from 1967 - to name but a few. For reasons that I cannot remember, nothing was else of this ilk was produced outside the normal bin range until 1980 when the Bin 80A was produced, followed by a 1982 Bin 820 (full of DMS, but a good wine, that is passed its best now), then another hiatus until 1990 when two wines were released -the Bin 90A and the Bin 920, (IIRC) still similarly sourced from the grapes/regions as the Bin 60A and Bin 620. In 1996 a special Block 42 Cabernet from Kalimna was released (not sure this qualifies as a special bin release, but you would have to think so). Again another lengthy gap until the 2004 vintage and Penfolds have released another 60A, have NFI why they used the Bin number, 60A, again!, and another Kalimna Block 42 Cabernet. The prices they're asking for these latest releases are astronomical.

So that's why you'll see very little of these special bin numbers around the traps.

Sounds like an excellent dinner and a fine celebration for that milestone, David.

Thanks for the background on the Penfolds Bin designations. Also curious - have the Orlando St. Hugo Cabernets (or for that matter the Steingarten Rieslings) changed much in terms of quality/longevity since the Jacobs Creek takeover? I've heard the older ones were among the great Aussie classic wines and built for the long haul in most years - seen a couple on shelves recently (but with the Jacob's Creek tag at the top) and was wondering if they're still of the same calibre.

Sounds like an excellent dinner and a fine celebration for that milestone, David.

Thanks for the background on the Penfolds Bin designations. Also curious - have the Orlando St. Hugo Cabernets (or for that matter the Steingarten Rieslings) changed much in terms of quality/longevity since the Jacobs Creek takeover? I've heard the older ones were among the great Aussie classic wines and built for the long haul in most years - seen a couple on shelves recently (but with the Jacob's Creek tag at the top) and was wondering if they're still of the same calibre.

I've been exceedingly pleased with the 2005 Steingarten but not as happy with the (one bottle of) 2006. Haven't tried any of the recnt St. Hugo's, but knowing Orlando pretty well, I'd think that there's been no systemic change to their stategies and qualitative aspirations with both labels since the name change - another retrograde move in my books.