TN: 1999 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz

[tjaehnigen]

4/21/03

Price = $18 --- TJ Rating 85 Points

This wine is starting to show up finally. After reading comments about this going through a dumb phase, I decided to sit and wait for a bit. Considering that this was likely a lighter style than the 1998, I decided to pop it to go with some apple sausage tonight. It worked pretty well.

I think it is just starting to emerge from its shell. The nose is still pretty muted, consisting mostly of plum and simple red fruits. It tastes basically more of the same, but the tannins are more prevalent than I expected and the fruit is starting to emerge with plum and cranberry showing through the most. The finish is of a decent length. I think that in 6 months or more, this wine will be coming around quite nicely.

I think there is definite potential for this wine to gain several points as it evolves.

[hotle]

the 97's still drinkin' pretty well, too. just found a couple 'extra' bottle that had been sitting in a mixed case in the back of my favorite wine store. thought i'd bought it all out a year ago, so a pleasant surprise.

[tjaehnigen]

I popped this again tonight as it'd been about 6 months since the last time and I had no available Chianti Classico to go with dinner...

This has gotten a bit better over the last 6 months. The bottle has been open a few hours now and it's a good thing. The initial funk on the nose blew right off within a minute or two as I, despite my intent to decant this the next time I had it, became a drink & pour.

This is a really quite dark wine. The nose is still ever so slightly muted, but it's gotten nice black plum and spice on the nose. After tasting it it's picked up some nice mocha and black plum tastes. There is a faint hint of dried pine needles there, too. Nice lingering finish ends up a smidgen thin at the very end.

I'll ratchet this up a few points to an 87-88 TJ point rating.

[futronic]

Thanks for the notes, tj. I'm still holding my last three bottles.

Glad to hear that you've been drinking more Chianti as of late as well. :)

[tjaehnigen]

Futronic, I think the bin 61 will improve even a bit more. Give it another 6 months and pop one. Let me know how it goes.

Oh and I am falling hard for Chianti Classicos and BdMs. I just need to go out and buy more. I am on wine budget hold for the forseeable future, so that means cheap stuff for a while and only to buy what I consume relatively immediately. Buying new windows for your house can mess with your wine buying habits!

[futronic]

What do you need windows for? Just put up some heavy plastic sheeting, and you'll be fine. Then you can use the money you saved to buy more wine. You might want to pick up a really warm sleeping back, however, as Mrs. tj might have you sleeping on the lawn if you pull that move.

There is some really good '98 BdM out there, but I don't know what the market is like in your area. There hasn't been much hype about it and the '99s are coming soon, so maybe you'll be able to pick up some of the '98s on sale. I'm just speculating, however, as in Ontario we don't know what the words "wine sale" mean as they've never been uttered in the same sentence at the LCBO.

Lots of great Chianti out there as well. I've never had a bad bottle from Grevepesa and I've had several of their bottlings. I popped my second-last bottle of their '97 Panzano Chianti last night and I'll post notes when I get a chance.

Back to the topic at hand, I'll be sure to post my notes on the Leasingham next time I crack a bottle.

[futronic]

Keeping true to my word, here are my notes on the bottle of Bin 61 I opened on Saturday:

$22CAD on initial release.

Decanted 1 hour, then poured back into the bottle - started drinking it at about 2 hours. Black/purple in colour. Stains the glass when swirling. Aromas of vanilla, oak, lush black fruit (blackberry, cassis), and spice. Bit of alcohol on the nose as well. Full-bodied with soft fruits; lush wine. Black fruit following through from nose, pepper notes as well. Present but nicely integrated tannins. Softened further with time. Moderate dry finish with blackberry notes right through to the end, ~ 30-35s. 90 points (01/03/2004).

[Andre]

Thanks for the TN's,

I only tried the Classic Clare Shiraz. and I would not recommend opening anything younger than the 1997.

Too massive for most foods.

[Scott]

the bin 61 ages for quite sometime, often still good at 15 yearsof age.