For no particular reason - other than a char siu stir fry and a bottle that had been standing up for a week or two - I decided to have a bottle of this 20-year-old pinot, from young amphitheatre vines underneath the winery in a seriously hot vintage, a primary ferment that lasted two days, and the new oak from a non-preferred cooper in France. (Our Dargaud & Jaegle barrels arrived a week after the wine had been taken to barrel for the conclusion of the primary ferment.) The bottle had zero ullage and the cork was pristine.
However, as I commenced to decant it, I knew something was dreadfully wrong. The wine had thrown a massive but fine sediment: the first half was pale and clear, the second half as dark as a ... well, it was very dark. It is a rare phenomenon that I have encountered over the years every now and then; one occasion was a bottle of 1916 Chateau Margaux, which was the colour of rose hip tea, leaving a massive crusty black sediment in the bottle. I had set my heart on the wine, so opened a second bottle, fresh from the cellar (on its side) and no chance to settle. The cork was ok, as was the level, but not as pristine as that from the first bottle.
Here I must digress. Just as the '91 vintage was full of challenges, the '92 vintage was superb; every aspect of the weather was perfect from start to finish. Yields were up on '91, and every variety had great character and balance. The standouts were pinot noir, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. At the time, my vote went to cabernet first, chardonnay second with pinot an eyelash behind, a wine of exceptional power and density.
This lead to an amicable difference of opinion between Suzanne and myself: she preferred the '92 Reserve and varietal over their '91 counterparts. I had my moment in the sun when the '91 varietal beat the '91 Reserve and a field of another 50 or so contenders for the 1992 Mackey Trophy (judged as part of the Adelaide Wine Show) to win the Trophy for the best wine (any variety) exported from Australia for the prior year.
But as the years have gone by, the '92 pinots have steadily improved, and only now have reached the plateau of unknowable length; whether I or the wine will drop of the perch first remains to be seen. I only have a few bottles left in my cellar, and Coldstream Hills is in the same boat. So I conceded defeat to Suzanne 10 or so years ago.
But the second bottle of '91 Reserve was sheer unadulterated bliss, having all the attributes of great pinot: a perfumed bouquet (violets, spices, forest floor and sweet fruit), a silky palate (spices again, with flashes of berry fruit) and a long lingering finish (with gossamer tannins). Twenty years old, and on its plateau for some years now, it was proof of the English wine trade saying, 'There are no great old wines, only great old bottles'. In a month or two, I shall see whether I got lucky, or whether there is life in the old girl yet.