1986 LINDEMANS PYRUS Wholesale Price: $168.36 Recommended Retail Price: $25.00 0Coonawarra winemaker Greg Clayfield has followed the brilliant, if somewhat unpredicted success of the fabulous Pyrus 1985 with something straight from the same drawer. Pyrus is potentially Lindemans’ best red wine, which implies that it could well become one of the most sought-after of all Australian reds. It is a wine blended from the classic Bordeaux grape varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec, selected from the large area Lindemans has under vine in the premium district of Coonawarra. Pyrus is one of the new `first-growth’ Coonawarra reds, which along with the Mildara Alexanders Blend, the Wynns John Riddoch and others is instigating a new level of quality for this famous red wine region. Its first wine was remarkably drinkable, elegant and complex, and waltzed off with the 1986 Jimmy Watson Trophy at the Melbourne Show. The 1986 vintage was one of the successful wines which helped Greg Clayfield’s winning nomination as `Winemaker of the Year’ at the 1988 International Wine and Spirit Competition at London. The 1986 Pyrus has a fine deep colour and a ripe, voluptuous nose of ripe, complex berry fruits and new oak. Perhaps a touch firmer than the ’85, the palate is rich, deep in flavour and utterly drinkable, carefully married with soft tannins. The wine opens up extremely well after an hour’s breathing, but it is still only an indication of what is yet to come. Here is a wine genuinely suited to drinking now and cellaring for at least five years. A wine like the Pyrus is made in comparatively small quantities, and like many distributors, Lindemans are aware of the need to maintain a supply for those restaurants which require it. Margaret Gould, at Lindemans’ Victorian office, can arrange to keep a quantity of this wine aside should your restaurant require it. Food suggestions: Most red meat dishes, fruit cheeses, dry cheeses, game birds.
