Dan Murphy's and Other Wine Deals

[lakes8]

Glad I didn't make the trip

 

[MVM]

For those in Melbourne Langton’s Warehouse Sale this AM.

Popped in first thing. Stock pretty average. Prices not very discounted. Grand Pappy’s Shiraz for $50, etc

They also tried to do a token system for wine tasting of premium wines, and then proceeded to pour about 8mls of wine per token. Seemed totally unnecessary for the well to do crowd in attendance!

Yeah I was a little underwhelmed. Only bought a couple of bottles, and that was mainly to justify the drive out there. They were free pouring 21 Moss Wood, 14 Astralis and 18 Grange when I was there - no tokens - a little hard to stomach at 10:30am after a rather big night, but I had to take one for the team.

 

[concussed]

Yeah I was a little underwhelmed. Only bought a couple of bottles, and that was mainly to justify the drive out there. They were free pouring 21 Moss Wood, 14 Astralis and 18 Grange when I was there - no tokens - a little hard to stomach at 10:30am after a rather big night, but I had to take one for the team.

Thank you for your service in these troubling times.

 

[Bill Bosworth]

Yeah I was a little underwhelmed. Only bought a couple of bottles, and that was mainly to justify the drive out there. They were free pouring 21 Moss Wood, 14 Astralis and 18 Grange when I was there - no tokens - a little hard to stomach at 10:30am after a rather big night, but I had to take one for the team.

How was the '14 astralis?

 

[Lux]

Yeah I was a little underwhelmed. Only bought a couple of bottles, and that was mainly to justify the drive out there. They were free pouring 21 Moss Wood, 14 Astralis and 18 Grange when I was there - no tokens - a little hard to stomach at 10:30am after a rather big night, but I had to take one for the team.

Out of those 21 Moss Wood was the highlight to me.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Prices?

 

[MVM]

How was the '14 astralis?

Astralis was holding up, but didn’t blow me away. Moss Wood was very good. Grange was Grange, completely overpriced, but an icon.

 

[MVM]

Prices?

21 Moss Wood $125
18 Grange $920ish
14 Astralis $220ish

Many others much cheaper at Winestar eg Martin’s Vineyard.

There was a heap of old Clarendon Hills leaving in people’s trolleys at $30-50, many people buying in 3-4 doz lots. Suspect most pre 2015 would have fallen apart by now though…

 

[Lux]

21 Moss Wood $125
18 Grange $920ish
14 Astralis $220ish

Many others much cheaper at Winestar eg Martin’s Vineyard.

There was a heap of old Clarendon Hills leaving in people’s trolleys at $30-50, many people buying in 3-4 doz lots. Suspect most pre 2015 would have fallen apart by now though…

"you must present your tokens to redeem" - glad they dropped that by 10:30am!

 

[Lux]

I am not sure the interest level but here was the stock list.

My only buy was the Katnook Prodigy Shiraz 2019 - which I tried last night (pretty good).

 

[Bill Bosworth]

I am not sure the interest level but here was the stock list.

My only buy was the Katnook Prodigy Shiraz 2019 - which I tried last night (pretty good).
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Cool list thanks for sharing. I suspect I would have fallen for some of it. Maybe even the clarendon 2014 liandra at $25. Older ones I've had were holding up very well.

Does anyone have the back story on why we've seen so much heavily discounted old Clarendon in the past 3 years. Was it just they were stashing tons of it on the bet China would keep going/might come back and now the wines are on the downhill (against the backdrop of a general market move away from heavy red)?

 

[Lux]

Cool list thanks for sharing. I suspect I would have fallen for some of it. Maybe even the clarendon 2014 liandra at $25. Older ones I've had were holding up very well.

Does anyone have the back story on why we've seen so much heavily discounted old Clarendon in the past 3 years. Was it just they were stashing tons of it on the bet China would keep going/might come back and now the wines are on the downhill (against the backdrop of a general market move away from heavy red)?

Makese sense what you are saying.

There is an interesting article on their website which talks about the new direction Roman's son Alex is pushing things, so it's possibly also tied to that.

"Alex says, historically, the process by which the wines were made was that he’d receive them as a marketer and then he’d sell them, but now, he’s really involved in the production. “I’ve got an exceptional understanding of what we do and I believe we can make it better. That’s why I’m pushing Dad to make the wines fresher and more elegant, to deliver more approachability and drinkability earlier, as opposed to some wines he was making that were highly structured and needed a long time in the cellar."

“Those wines repay patience in dividends, but the style that I’m looking to achieve is just a bit different. We’ve still got the great vineyards, but I believe in wines of suggestion, elegance and reservation, rather than turning up the volume.”

Alex says after a few initial tensions, the success has started to show and the sales have followed. “He can definitely see what I want, and he’s fully on board with making those changes. It’s come from a place of having a highly credentialed, world-renowned winemaker who’s been making hundred-point wines and thought he knew it all, and thought that his impression was the final impression. Then [I made] the perilous decision to question that and to say, ‘no, let’s do it this way and tease out this, and take that and make it better’.

“And it’s been a challenge, but across the course of the last 10 years, I’ve completely changed the portfolio.”

Latest CH Wine Companion Scores

It's been a big week with Halliday’s Wine Companion releasing an outstanding editorial article on Clarendon Hills and a bunch of excellent scores.

clarendonhills.com.au