the petaluma oozes class with a brilliant glowing infantile white straw colour, continually unfolding and building, still relatively primary, aromatics of orange blossom, grapefruit, musk, pear drop, minerals, lime and a just a hint of secondary toasty development. the palate harbours a solid and multidimensional core of musk, lime, oranges, pears and chalk, all underpinned by an incredible dose of mouth-puckering mineral-laced acidity and a prolonged finish of great authority. this tremendous oz riesling deserves the self-praise heaped upon this wine on the back label. this vintage rivals, and, in my most humble opinion, surpasses, the fabled 1980 vintage, winemaker brian croser compares it to. it displays all the hallmarks of a classic ageworthy clare valley riesling and should live for another decade and a half given proper cellaring conditions. 12.8% a/v, sealed with a cork closure. 94 points
the mcwilliams "old hill" is a recent auction purchase I now have no regrets paying a little over top for securing the right to tonight's tasting. displaying a transluscent but very healthy brick red colour with abundant rust and brown in the meniscus, the haunting nose offers up a wealth of old leather, plenty of sweet earth, some dusty oak and a strong undercurrent of red cherry liquer over a backdrop of a 'drying smidge' of v.a (schlack), a hint of cigar box, nutmeg and an ultimate, alluring top note of licorice. so intoxicating is the bouquet, one can only go back to it, time and time again and wonder on how this wine looked to all the lucky punters who got to try it at various times in the past. the palate opened somewhat disappointingly empty and a little short, but as I sit here sipping on it for the third hour, I am absolutely dazzled by the improved performance. silky in texture as a rare red burg, this corker abounds with red fruits of cherry and currant displaying similarly perplexing virtues I found in the bouquet. exquisitely profound with such a diversity of nuance it's difficult to know where it starts and finishes. at forty-two years of age, this shiraz is still alive and kicking with enough acidity and some lacy tannins providing backbone to the glossy fruit. surely one of the most wonderful balanced and compelling bottles of aged oz red I've had the pleasure of assessing, this wine fully deserves a score of 95 points. on the indication of how this particular bottle opened, I can vouch for the 1965 hunter red vintage of being up there with the best of the twentieth century. unfortunately, due to my parents procreation schedule, I doubt I'll have little chance to enjoy the great wines of the 30's, 40's and 50's that the genius winemaker, maurice o'shea, made under the mcwilliams label.