1998 Wines from Yering Station

The '98 seems a more complex, Champagne-like style than usual for Yarrabank. It's full of interest, smelling of smoke, straw, grilled bread and toasted nuts. The palate has weight and richness without sacrificing finesse. The finish is powerful, dry and lingers long after the swallow. It would suit oysters topped with caviar.

Yarrabank is the sparkling department of Yering Station. Yering Station will make a bad wine the day politicians turn honest. So this gets a big rap, but our esteemed readers need to be aware that by the time you read this, you are most likely to find the 1999 rather than this cracker. Ah, the tyranny of deadlines. Anyway, both are exceptional. Expect a wonderfully creamy texture and an explosion of complex flavours.

Medium yellow-green; the bouquet has some depth, but is slightly broad; a well-put-together commercial wine on the palate, with mouthfeel its strongest point.

Light to medium red-purple; the bouquet is clean but does not have over-much character. The palate opens well enough, nice pinot varietal character, but then has a rather stalky, bitter finish.

Medium purple-red; the bouquet is clean, moderately intense, with cherry and a touch of chocolate. The palate opens with attractive sweet fruit but does fall away quite markedly on the finish.

Some cassis peeks out from beneath spicy, gamy and smoked-meats aromas. The bouquet is quite complex. The palate is polished and elegant, with fine balance and moderate tannin adding both spine and flesh. It's a stylish red that already drinks well. Serve with traditional coq au vin.

Light to medium yellow-green; the bouquet is understated and takes time to develop, with melon showing initially, followed by citrus notes. The palate is delicate and youthful and will develop, although may ultimately be held back by a lack of concentration in fruit flavour.

Slightly blackish aspects don't give immediate visual appeal, but the bouquet strikes back, with interesting earthy/strawberry notes which are quite Champagne-like. The palate, too, has some stylish, tangy characters and real bite to the finish.

The colour has medium density, and the nose has a direct fruit)' aroma, reminiscent of strawberries and red cherries and spice. In the mouth there's juicy cherry-like flavour of medium body. It has pleasant intensity and juicy drinkability. It doesn't have the over-stemmy traits that mark some young Victorian pinots, and tannins are mild. Try it with baked ham.

This is a big, solid pinot with heaps of flavour and structure. The colour is mid-full purple-red and it smells of dark cherry, plum and vanilla: rich and yet to develop to its full potential. It's very concentrated, seriously deep, full-bodied and stacked with promise. A real thriller! Serve it with roast squab.

This one split the authors. It's a good argument-starter. HH saw hydrogen sulfide while RK-P thought it was within the realm of acceptability. Both agreed the quality and concentration of fruit are outstanding. It has toasty charred oak and spicy, peppery cool-grown shiraz aromas. The palate is lovely: smooth, elegant and quite reminiscent of the Rhone-Cornas or perhaps Cote Rotie. It would go nicely with civet of hare.