Dan Murphy's and Other Wine Deals

HH has rated just over 30 Australian wines at 99 pts, over a period of at least 8 years, and another 40 or so non-Australian wines over maybe a longer period. There are only 3 from the excellent 2021 vintage.
If you subscribe to his site you would see which wines he rated 99pts and perhaps not be so dismissive.
I've always thought HH to be one of the critics with comparatively greater integrity and have been a long-time subscriber. I also really like St Peters - got plenty a bottle of it lying down. It's great but is it really the pinnacle?

Australian critics are said to be relatively high markers compared to others (and yes, some other countries also have a problem with 100 pt regulars thanks Mr Maroni). I think it's a bit of a growing problem.

IMHO 99 should be for truly incredible wines, and 100 given for astounding ones and almost never. (Otherwise, if you're playing on 10 where do you go... 11?)

Glad you're ok with all this RB!
 
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I've always thought HH to be one of the critics with comparatively greater integrity and have been a long-time subscriber. I also really like St Peters - got plenty a bottle of it lying down. It's great but is it really the pinnacle?

Australian critics are said to be relatively high markers compared to others (and yes, some other countries also have a problem with 100 pt regulars thanks Mr Maroni). I think it's a bit of a growing problem.

IMHO 99 should be for truly incredible wines, and 100 given for astounding ones and almost never. (Otherwise, if you're playing on 10 where do you go... 11?)

Glad you're ok with all this RB!
I agree with your assessment of HH.
I think Wine Companion has had a slight scoring reset since the new team took more of the load this year, may have more of a reset when JH finally bows out of tasting/reviewing.

I haven't tried the 2021 St Peters, but eventually will and I'll try to understand what HH saw in it that was so special to him.

Personally I've only ever tried a small number of wines that I would rate 99/100, all of them fortifieds, including several vintages of the Seppelt 100yo ports and several editions of Morris Show Muscats and Tokays. The best examples of those wines are such a complete olfactory and taste sensation that I found it impossible to see anything that would remove a point from a perfect score. You don't want to taste anything else after those, so the sensation lingers for literally hours and you want to steal the glass from the tasting so you can keep sniffing it. All the 100pt Wine Companion wines are fortifieds.

I haven't had the chance to try most of the other wines that various critics (other than Luca Maroni, who seems to be the Italian Sam Kim) have rated 99 or 100. But I have tried some of the 99 pt wines from the Wine Companion list, including the $30 or so Yangarra Grenache 2021 and most of those left me just shaking my head in confusion at how they could possibly have arrived at that score. There are only 21 table wines scoring 99pts from 2018 to 2021 vintages. Double that when you include the 2017 vintage rated highly by JH, but not by many others, including my experience of the vintage. So also some evidence of a slight reset at the 99pt level.

Given that "serious" wine buyers clearly understand the fallibility and point-creep in the current rating scene, it reinforces the need to wherever possible try before you buy, or buy from VM where it's easy to return mistakes. I'm lucky to have two tasting group sessions each week, with 6-7 bottles at each tasting and we are currently alternating between 2021 reds as they are released (to see what to buy from this generally excellent vintage) and back vintage tastings of previous regular buys (to see if we picked/bought successfully).
 
Pls excuse the possible cracked record of my current rant...

Now even Huon Hooke is into it... 99pts for the '21 St Peters! I look forward to the day all wine good or bad, big or small are 100pts

I saw that in a recent email from Seppelt.
To be fair I think either they are doing something right with this wine or HH is quite the fan. 2017 and 2019 vintages both received 97 pts from HH but were clustered closely by other key critics.

But I certainly hear you with what appears to be some bracket creep and this makes me uncertain at times - particularly not having as many opportunities to try before purchasing as I would like.

The big question is did you spend you $56-$58 to see if there was any truth to it all?

If he is right … then $56-$58 is a bargain for a 99 point wine.

So I ordered mine today.
 
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I saw that in a recent email from Seppelt.
To be fair I think either they are doing something right with this wine or HH is quite the fan. 2017 and 2019 vintages both received 97 pts from HH but were clustered closely by other key critics.

But I certainly hear you with what appears to be some bracket creep and this makes me uncertain at times - particularly not having as many opportunities to try before purchasing as I would like.

The big question is did you spend you $56-$58 to see if there was any truth to it all?

If he is right … then $56-$58 is a bargain for a 99 point wine.

So I ordered mine today.
Piqued my interest given the different scores across the vintages. Had a CD birthday code to burn and have picked up St Peters in the past. I've got a few on the way as we speak. Wasn't sure if I'd try one now or hold off for a few years. What are you thinking @GoingGrey?
 
I saw that in a recent email from Seppelt.
To be fair I think either they are doing something right with this wine or HH is quite the fan. 2017 and 2019 vintages both received 97 pts from HH but were clustered closely by other key critics.

But I certainly hear you with what appears to be some bracket creep and this makes me uncertain at times - particularly not having as many opportunities to try before purchasing as I would like.

The big question is did you spend you $56-$58 to see if there was any truth to it all?

If he is right … then $56-$58 is a bargain for a 99 point wine.

So I ordered mine today.
Seems worth a shot. I somehow managed to pick up a six of the not as well rated 2018 last year for $38 each in a cellardoor wildcard plus a code. Was very pleased with myself... If I cld get some of the 2021 for similar that would be something!
 
Piqued my interest given the different scores across the vintages. Had a CD birthday code to burn and have picked up St Peters in the past. I've got a few on the way as we speak. Wasn't sure if I'd try one now or hold off for a few years. What are you thinking @GoingGrey?
I think holding off is best but always good to try one upfront for comparison.
If it’s a winner then there’s time to gab a little more 😄
I guess it depends on if you prefer you wine younger or older.
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Seems worth a shot. I somehow managed to pick up a six of the not as well rated 2018 last year for $38 each in a cellardoor wildcard plus a code. Was very pleased with myself... If I cld get some of the 2021 for similar that would be something!
I would be pretty pleased at $38 too !!
 
Well I've got one day left to use my CellarOne $20 birthday voucher. I was thinking of picking up a case of 2021 Katnook Estate Cab Sauv @ $145 case of 6. I would appreciate any better suggestions!
Also, I don't believe I received a similar voucher with Cellardoor? Is there a way to check your account for this?
Regards,
Kris
 
Well I've got one day left to use my CellarOne $20 birthday voucher. I was thinking of picking up a case of 2021 Katnook Estate Cab Sauv @ $145 case of 6. I would appreciate any better suggestions!
Also, I don't believe I received a similar voucher with Cellardoor? Is there a way to check your account for this?
Regards,
Kris
I used mine to grab the St Hallett Trio for $39

 
I used mine to grab the St Hallett Trio for $39

What is the trio?
I'm overseas so don't have the password to log in and look.
 
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I can find a few ratings in the low 90s with Halliday being 96.
Cellar for a few years or drink immediately?
I think you can definitely drink it now, being 10 years old. But should still be ok for a few years too. Considering it's DM cellar release. Usually they cellared it in their temp controlled room.
 

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