Justin Isosceles 98 & 99

A question for those more experienced with American wines. I was doing some spring cleaning in the cellar the other day and came across some Justin Isosceles 98 & 99. As I only have one bottle of each, I am keen to drink them at their peak. Any suggestions on when to drink them, are they ready now, will they get better?

Mark

I opened a 1998 Justin Isosceles almost exactly two years ago, and it was already a major disappointment. That was a pretty weak vintage in California, and this bottle was one of several samplings that confirmed just how poor it was.

This wine is way past its prime. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

-- Clark

Pity about the 98. Any thoughts on the 99? I also found some 01 L'Aventure. I am interested on drinking windows for this. PS For $10 at the CD, they gave away lovely Riedel O glasses. Best CD I have visited for perks. Is this normal in other parts of the US?

[David M. Bueker]

The Justin wines are pretty much drink on release. I opened a '97 a couple of years ago that was definitely past it.

And no, the Riedel 'O' is not the normal tasting room glass.

I believe this accurately sums up my feelings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKnPSJE6Qoc

Well I finally tried the Justine Isosceles 98 last night with a bbq steak; our spring evenings begin again. On the positive side, the wine is still drinkable which was a major concern after some of the above comments. For a 10 year old cab sav the colour was much more developed than I would have expected with muddy red bricking. As the wine is unfiltered, I was not surprised by its opaque nature but I would normally have expected the wine to retain more red fruit colours. For the flavours, well they really didn't remind me of cab sav. They were like a South Australian shiraz, sort of porty, fruit cake. Not unpleaseant just not like a cab sav. This became more evident when we opened the next bottle which was a Leasingham Bin 61 1998. A clare valley shiraz from a good year but also probably the extent of its drinking window. Side by side, the two were fairly similar. I think we may try and open the 1999 quite soon.

[David M. Bueker]

I guess I will say that I am not terribly shocked. The Isosceles was always a bit over the top.

And Mark - it's Justin, not Justine.

Just checked CT, and the last Justin/Justine Isosceles I had was in 2008, and it was the 2000. It was beginning its descent then. So.. Bueker's `drink 'em soon after ya buy 'em' advice seems sage.

And Mark - it's Justin, not Justine.

Apologizes for the mix up, must have been thinking of the book. I also have some L'Adventure tucked away. I think about around 2003/4. Any general thoughts on its drinking windows?

[Jenise]

And Mark - it's Justin, not Justine.

Apologizes for the mix up, must have been thinking of the book. I also have some L'Aventure tucked away. I think about around 2003/4. Any general thoughts on its drinking windows?

L'Aventure has a French winemaker who used purchased grapes until his own vineyard produced the quality he was looking for. I'm thinking that in 01 you'd have had the purchased grapes, and as he's a relatively new commodity himself as a winemaker there's no track record by which to gauge your 01. That said, when I tasted at the winery and he had both on offer from two vintages, I much preferred the purchased grapes (which came from a cooler area to the south). Definitely more structured.

[David M. Bueker]

Purchased was more than likely older vines, giving it better balance.

[Jenise]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking David. Just checked Cellar Tracker though and it shows there being an estate wine in 01 which someone had recently and commented that it was drinking very well right now "but could easily last another five years". Good news for Mark.

Jenise

I really need to dig into the cellar and find out what vintage it is. Sadly I also brought some tablas creek esprit de beaucastel from the same trip to the Paso Robles but had to leave them behind in the US given the limits we have on bringing bottles into Aus. I don't seem to see people drinking much of this or rather there are very few TNs. Have you tried any recently?

Mark

[Jenise]

Jenise

I really need to dig into the cellar and find out what vintage it is. Sadly I also brought some tablas creek esprit de beaucastel from the same trip to the Paso Robles but had to leave them behind in the US given the limits we have on bringing bottles into Aus. I don't seem to see people drinking much of this or rather there are very few TNs. Have you tried any recently?

Mark

Mark, I brought some of the TC's back from my one Paso trip too. And based on the last one we opened, I'd guess that 1) most people are giving the wines more time and 2) the Esprit's a young brand so there aren't that many out there. 2000 was the first vintage, I believe, and based on most of the reports I've read have expressed some disappointment (I would join them). However, I just saw something about Parker giving a recent vintage (probably the new release) whopper sized points, so maybe that's about to change.

I think I had some of the 03 Esprit so looks as though I had better try and track it down. I remain eternally hopeful I may get back to the US this year and go skiing again.