TN: Some Rhone & Oz Rhone styles from 2003

[Phil Wilkins]

2003 Seppelt ‘St Peters’ Shiraz, Grampians
Loads of aroma & flavour here in an elegant way. Not as complex (a bit clumsy?) as expected, I suspect this is at the younger end of the spectrum. The palate is generous enough with velvety fruit, moderate tannins & a decent finish. Maybe this was drunk to quickly to fully appreciate what is in the bottle. Fantastic stuff but difficult to find. Screw cap. 13.5%vol. 92pts

2003 Clonakilla Shiraz - Viognier, Canberra District
94% Shiraz, 6% Viognier, one-third new oak. This was utterly compelling, many years had passed since drinking my last S/V I didn’t know what to expect. I was not disappointed. It was radiant, fine and very deep with slightly sweet/spicy dark fruits with herbs & violets. Greater complexity added by the secondary notes of lots of things not worth listing. Drives like a Porsche! Cork. 14% 95pts

2003 Torbreck ‘The Steading’, Barossa Valley
60% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, and 20% Shiraz. Assuming this was well cellared there are glimpses of the downward slope while still holding onto glances of youth. Dried red fruits, sous bois, roasted beef, touches of barnyard and eventually some spice notes created. It was an interesting enough bottle but lacked charm/complexity/drinkability. However, I wouldn’t refuse another bottle should one come my way. Cork. 14.5% 88pts

2003 Domaine de la Janasse Cuvee Vieilles Vignes
Wow. This certainly marries power with charm/elegance and balancing intensity/structure weaving its magic backbone here. Phwor.... insatiably succulent this finishes grippy, long and satisfying. The control in this is glorious. So deliciously complete. I could waffle on over how great this bottle was but I’ll leave it at “quite compelling” to sum up. Ready without any rush to drink. Long live 2003! Long live Chateauneuf! Cork. 15% 95pts

2003 Les Vins de Vienne Cote Rotie ‘Les Essartailles’
A collaboration between Francois Villard, Yves Cuilleron and Pierre Gaillard. I have no idea if this project still continues. Perhaps still a tad on the young side this was an attractive bottle without being terribly exciting. Medium bodied there was some purity here with decent meaty/bloody/iron-y notes. I liked the tea-like tannins however there was very little development while drinking this over several hours. It was decent enough, just a bit dull overall. Cork. 13.5% 89pts