I had one bottle each remaining of Hardy's Coonawarra Cabernet
Sauvignon 1991 and Ravenswood Sonoma County Zinfandel 1991. These both
are rather basic wines from the mentioned companies. However both have
aged very well and remain in good condition. Both wines were properly
stored since release.

The Hardy's CS is still rather deep in color with only little evidence
of age. It has plenty of acid and has now smoothed. There is strong
cassis with much spice character - nearly as if it contained some
Shiraz. Although not a gold medal wine, it was much better than
expected for a basic wine and well suited for less formal drinking.

The Ravenswood Zinfandel was still quite dark with not much age
showing. It had thrown some crust that stuck to the side of the bottle
that had been down on storage, and the crust was nearly black. The
alcohol content was listed as about 14.3%. Although not a late harvest
style, it was a quite full food style of wine. There was ample
acidity, and the wine had smoothed well. The typical Zinfandel dark
fruit character remained along with considerable spice. This is not as
complex as some of Ravenswood's top level wines, but it is very good
indeed and is holding well at an age at which many other Zinfandels
hav lost most of their fruit.

Both wines cost under $US 10 on release. Of course the price today
would be considerably higher. Although the higher level wines from
these companies are more likely to age better and longer, even the
basic level wines can keep fairly well in certain years.