I’ve found that adding water to some of these does help a bit. I’ve done that with a few wines over the years. Doesnt really change the taste, but certainly dials the intensity down a bit so that its drinkable. Usually about a 1-2 teaspoons per glass. I only do it situations where I don want to dump (restaurants, parties, weddings, etc.)
i do not have experience with the Noon wines but have generally enjoyed my older Aussie Shiraz. Just had a 2005 Greenook Creek Seven Acre a few nights ago that was delicious for my tastes. To me this whole debate boils down to a matter of tastes. As they say, chocolate and vanilla.
I can’t comment on Noons or cheaper Australian wines that got high scores from parker as I sold mine a decade ago but I did keep a handful of higher end Shiraz such as Run Rig, Dead Arm and Kay Brothers Block 6 generally from 1998-2001 vintages. I have placed these in blind high end Northern Rhône and California Syrah dinners with attendees who are not ooze monster fans and these Aussies are usually at the top of the pack or WoTNs.
I had a glass of an early 2000s Integrity maybe a year ago, I think it was some nearly 100 point rated Parker wine.
I didn’t love it, and it certainly wasn’t worth the price or deserving of the score, but it was going along pretty well in that style. I don’t think it had positively evolved with added complexity and so forth, but it also hadn’t crossed over into some horrid mess.
I would guess it was probably mostly like it was in its youth, but with the fruit having receded and mellowed a bit?
I have one 98 Dead Arm left. I guess I should open it soon.
On the other hand, I have a small stash of 97 - 98 - 99 Wendourees that I picked up on Winebid in the early 00s, and those have been consistently excellent.
I wouldn’t put Dead Arm in the same category as some of these wines. We opened a 2003 at a blind tasting last year and most guesses were a middle-aged cab blend and mixed between old world and new. Not a light bodied wine for sure…but not an ‘Ooze Monster’
Well, if it makes you feel any better, I bought a bunch of these back in the day as well. I sold all of mine a while back. I might have kept a few other ooze monsters just to see where they would end up. Looks like you found out the hard way.
Low altitude, hot South Australian wine regions near Adelaide (Barossa, Mclaren Vale, Langhorne Creek - hello Noon!) were indeed initially planted in order to make fortified wines that were in high demand at the time. The Douro Valley of Austrlia if you like.
Victoria was the place where high quality table wine was made with a strong French influence (Burgundy, Northern Rhone, Bordeaux and the like.)
Then Phylloxera struck.
South Australian vines dodged that bullet fortified wine vineyards filled the gap by making more and more table wine.
Then RPJ appeared and made this wine famous around the world.
Now people think this is the only wine made in Australia when, in fact, most other regions still producer French-style, subtle table wine which, sadly, not many people know about.
Now, if the tariffs are enforced, where on earth could French-style wines be found sans tariff? Surely not Australia! They only make high octane shiraz…
Like you read my mind. Same, +1. Thankfully I’ve really reduced my holdings of this stuff over the last decade. I seem to be down to a total of 8 bottles; 2 - 2005 Greenock 'Cornerstone, 2 - 2005 Lost Highway Shiraz ‘Roussanne’, 1 each 2004 and 2005 Tatiarra shiraz ‘Caravan of Dreams’ and 1 mag of 2004 Torbreck grenache ‘Amis’. I owned so much of the 1998, 2001 and 2002 wines that Parker rated so highly, no way not to buy them back then. They’ve been used up at summer bbq’s, seem to pair well with 18 hour smoked wagyu brisket, 6 hour smoked ribs, etc. BBQ wine… Hopefully the rest will go this summer and that will be that.
I have a few Shiraz from before 1998 when this nonsense started. Results tend to be pretty good, and occasionally you will find a great bottle like a Clarendon 199? which I picked up for $3
On another thread, there was some evidence that some people still enjoy the ‘Parkerised’ wines and like how they are ageing. I don’t doubt them (for their palate). The wines aren’t shit, though to my palate they almost certainly would feel that way.
So please let us be slightly more restrained when commenting, lest our strident opinions mirror those of Parker who was so influential in persuading people he knew best and to trust him and not their own palates. Say how it is for your palate, but don’t be an arrogant ‘Parker’ and deny the possibility that others may see it different.
We bought and drank an awful lot of OZ ooze starting in 2001 and loved them “back then.” Some we had trouble keeping in stock like Marquis Phillips, Oliver Hill and Henry’s Drive. At the same time we bought Burge Draycott, Greenock Creek, Wild Duck Creek, Dutschke, Two Hands, Shirvington, Barrosa Old Vine Wine Company, Torbreck, Parson’s Flat, Hazy Blur, Kangaroo Island, Killikanoon, Penfolds, Oliver’s Taranga, Kalleske, Kaesler, Rusden, Hahn and a few others. Some didn’t sell to the ooze monster drinkers so we had/have a stash of 2002, 2003, 2004 vintages. The Wild Duck Creek we drank or sold over the course of last year. Blind tasting it was picked as a medium aged Northern Rhone. The Kangaroo Island, Barrosa Old Vine, Torbreck, Hazy Blur, Oliver’s Taranga and Dutschke are drinking well. Greenock Creek is still young.
We still carry current vintages of Penfolds, Torbreck, Two Hands, Yalumba and Langmeil.
The last 6 pack of Hahn was in our 17 case wine cooler at home. When we had the earthquake in 2014, the wine cooler set itself to 30 degrees, freezing and blowing the corks on every bottle except the higher alcohol Hahn. The wine was so good when it warmed up we drank them all within two weeks.
The Rusden wines are another story I covered 2 years ago. The highly rated Black Guts Shiraz we couldn’t sell because of its high price turned to prune juice in 2013, even though the drinking window was supposed to be 2020 to 2025. We tried a bottle each year and in 2018 it wasn’t prune juice anymore and turned into a Syrah. Might have to try one tonight to confirm it has really returned.
Okay, took a bottle of 2003 Rusden Black Guts Shiraz home for dinner. Popped and poured it. It has new wine acidity, black fruit flavors that aren’t oozy and I don’t think I would pick it out as Australian in a blind taste. I had a back up wine for dinner and it won’t be needed. After 15 minutes it still tastes young.
I’m still a fan of Torbreck. Their low end is a decent everyday drinker and the high end holds up pretty well. My last 2001 Runrig was great. And the 03 Les Amis is one of the best OV grenaches I’ve ever had.
Opened a 2001 Wendouree Shiraz/Malbec last night, which was singing. Surprising (but not stewed on overwhelming) fruit not obliterated by tannins. Excellent
Mike Officer told me way back in 2002 that the shite being imported by Grateful Palate and the like was a caricature of the better wines appreciated within Australia and aimed at us Amerifools. Several wine enthusiasts from Australia said the same. Here we are all these years later and for better or worse, few of the more restrained styles get imported here. Take a look at this list and see how many names you recognize;
126, and a couple of my favorites didn’t make the list. I bet I’d do less well with a list of California wineries