Page 113 - Microsoft Word - miniz-digest-104-109.docx

Wines #1 - Australia

Much of life is subject to fads and miniature bottle collecting is no exception. Single malt Scotches
often fetch big money but Scotch blends are out of fashion right now and often sell for next to
nothing. Most ceramics are also now selling for less than they did 20 years ago, as are most
microminis. Tequilas were in fashion a few years ago, now it’s vodka. Liqueurs are selling for ten a
penny – almost literally!

One class of mini bottle that is not, nor ever has been, in fashion is Wines. These suffer for a number
of reasons, not least because the wine often looks horrible in old bottles. Another factor is that most
mini wines are not table wines and so do not spark the interest of committed wine drinkers (myself
included!). I have only known one specialist mini wine collector. This was 20 years ago in New
Zealand and he had a very good collection which, importantly, did not cost him much. Unfortunately
that collection is long gone.

This is the first of a series of Wine articles
that will run in parallel in the newsletters of
the NZMBC and the MMBC. The text and
range of bottles will be similar but the
photos will be different in each newsletter.

The first 8 bottles I have to show you are all
brands that eventually ended up, at least
nominally, in the hands of Treasury Wine
Estates. They date from the 1950’s and
60’s.

The Glenloth Reserve Port is undoubtedly
the rarest of the bottles we are seeing
today. Glenloth is a dot on the map in
northern Victoria, Glenloth Wines have long
gone. Most Australian wines are 2½ fl.oz.
(about 70ml), 2⅔ fl.oz. (about 75ml) or 75ml
this one is 2½ fl.oz. Lindeman’s is one of the best known
names in Australian wines. Founded in 1843 in the Hunter
Valley in New South Wales, Lindeman’s has been and
remains primarily a table wine producer. However, like the
majority of Australian wineries in the 1950’s & 60’s, it also did
a large trade in fortified wines. The Montillo Cream Sherry is
one of probably dozens of fortified wine minis from this
period. I love the next bottle from Leo Buring and it’s address
of Ye Old Crusty Cellar, Sydney (although the winery is in
South Australia). Leo Buring is another name still in use,
again, only for table wines now. There does not seem to be
many Leo Buring mini bottles around but I would expect a
few more different types of Sherry to be out there
somewhere.

- 10 -