2001 MP Integrity - Endgame

There are often negative views expressed regarding the big Aussie Shiraz from the 2000s. There is no doubt that balance was not a priority. However, many of the those big wines were very pleasing to me in their early years. The MPs especially, the basic Shiraz around $12 at the time and the Integrity at a much higher price, were especially pleasing. In addition, all the 2001-2004 Kilikanoon Oracles I have had from early on and including twice last year have been enjoyable. The 'dooker Velvet Glove I had a month ago was still quite pleasing, but little value for the price paid.

So today we opened the 2001 Integrity. Still dark with a dark berry nose. Some vanilla. Taste added pepper and some blueberry. Enjoyable at the start but alcohol is pronounced. Not to the level of its youth, but still enjoyable. I am glad I did not decant, and it may run out of fruit later, but for now more than drinkable. I bet it would go well with something slow cooked and spicy. The '01 was great at release, really good in '09, good in '14 and still enjoyable in 2020. This ain’t a Grange!

I will report back if anything dramatically good or bad develops from the remainder of the bottle.

I have one 2002 that I will open in a few days.

Update - The second day, lost most of its fruit…drink up if you have any left.

I had a 2002 a couple of weeks ago. I hope yours is a lot better than the one I had.

https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2936971#p2936971

I will note that my friend had it in a decanter for some unknown amount of time before I arrived - I don’t know if it would have been better just right out of the bottle, as you experienced with your 2001.

I always enjoyed the Velvet Glove wines a few years after release. Usually if it got 98 or more from Parker best to drink right away.

A friend poured me an early 2000s Velvet Glove a year or two ago. It was still drinking decently, in its ultraripe lush style. I’m guessing it wasn’t as enjoyable as when it was younger (it didn’t seem like a wine you’d spend more than $30-40 on today, even if you’re a fan of the style), but it hadn’t fallen apart into a mess like the 02 Integrity I had last week, either.

A follow-up: the fruit is fading. Feels a little hotter. Recommendation: Anyone who has a bottle of this should not decant and should imbibe in just one evening.

Chris - I am hoping my '02 will show better than what you experienced, but I suspect it won’t.

I opened a bottle of the 2001 Integrity last Sat. It was a boozy mess that tasted like a blend of Raid and Robitussin. My wife agrees. And we dumped it. Alas I have another bottles in the cellar. At least my daughter liked the box enough to keep.

It’s amusing to compare Chris’s note from March on the 02 with Adam’s today on the 01:

Lastly, we had a 2002 Marquis Philips Integrity. Probably a 100-ish point Parker wine. 16% alcohol on the label. This wine is basically all alcohol at this point. > The nose smells like a disinfecting product > - you don’t even smell any fruit. The palate is also dominated by alcohol, mixed with some simple pruney fruit. Probably fun a decade ago, but not even worth drinking now.


The 2002 MP Integrity was one of the first “wow” wines in my early wine drinking foray. I haven’t had a Marquis Philips in over 10 years I’d guess. I’m glad you posted this…my sense is that some of us are scared to admit to drinking those older Aussie wines from that ripe era for fear of shunning. Cheers!

I drank through quite a few bottles of MP low end wines back in the early 2000s when I first started collecting. The best thing I can say is it was a step in a long process. Tonight I think I’ll open another PYCM.

Thanks for the note! Drank/sold a lot of this back in the day. Some of these bold Aussie wines are built for the long haul, but I wouldn’t have intentionally kept anything from Marquis Philips this long.

Somewhere here in the wine storage is a bottle of Integrity 01 or 02. Have to dig it out and pour it off I guess. I agree with Brent on his assessment of MP and other Aussie wines. We have several of the 02, 03 and 04 Aussie cabs and Shiraz left over and some are drinking very well. 03 Wild Duck Creek would pass for an aged Northern Rhone. The last thing you would have guessed on a blind taste was that it was Aussie. 03 Barossa Old Vine Wine Company is another one just now hitting its stride. The enigma was 03 Rusden Black Guts Shiraz. Big points from Parker with a drinking window 2020 to 2025. It was prune juice in 2016 and 2018. A bottle in 2019 and another in 2020 were aged Syrah with a little extra fruit. May not command the $100 + price tag, but very good.

Thnx for the note- I have a couple of these hopefully stored and on deck for an unsuspecting victim. They were over the top when released and not surprised that they haven’t aged gracefully . That said, I have been digging into a varied stash of diverse Ozzies from that era that I excavated from a blocked bin that hadn’t been disturbed since layed down in that period. To my surprise they have survived and still give pleasure if not, perhaps, bloomed into anything of great beauty. In the last week have gone thru an 02 Torbreck Struie, 02 Rusden Christine Grenache , 03 Tatiarra Cambrian and 02 Amon Ra. The grenache was a bit tired and not especially varietally typical but the others were in great shape, especially the Torbreck, and reasonably food friendly. Certainly not for the faint hearted or AFWE inclined but they were never advertised that way. I’ll do my best to drink this stash down and look forward to the ‘big boys’ of the era if perhaps not the Sparky style.

Things like Torbreck (Dave Powell made it) Amon Ra, Rusden, Wild Duck Creek, Barossa Wine Co, and classics like Yalumba, Tyrrell’s, Henschke, etc from that era I have no issues with holding for decades. 20 years is a good upper limit but specific wines can go even longer.

After Fox Creek, I thought Sarah and Sparky went way too over the top forward with the MP wines and later Mollydooker, so I don’t trust those. I just didn’t understand the shift after having so many amazing bottles from their Fox Creek period.

Anyone still hanging on to 2001-2002 Shirvington wines?

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As a very general statement, Aussie cabs have tended to be made in more of a Bordeaux style, as opposed to the cranked-up style from that era when you talk about the shiraz. That is my sense of it, anyway – someone can feel free to correct me if that is wrong.

Are the cabs you have more restrained, or are they in the ultraripe style?

Have a couple Shirvs of those years and old Fox Creek Reserve from the 90’s. Will post notes when I get to them. I’ve found that the old Margaret River cabs are quite classic and not as rich ormint inflected as the S Australia Ones.

Have a couple Shirvs of those years and old Fox Creek Reserve from the 90’s. Will post notes when I get to them. I’ve found that the old Margaret River cabs are quite classic and not as rich ormint inflected as the S Australia Ones.

The 1998 Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz is one of my top 10 wines of all time. Amazing stuff. [cheers.gif]

Give it to me, we will call it even for the flask of bourbon that was possibly less hot than your Integrity!

Sorry, I meant to say Aussie cabs and Shiraz. Corrected my initial post. The cabs are more restrained.