Capel Vale Whispering Hill Shiraz 2009

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

I've been focusing on older reds recently, considering that the younger ones will age, hopefully into better wines. However, I was packing a cardboard box with 4 vintages of this wine, and realised I had one too many for the box, and a few of this vintage. Time to look at a younger wine.

Decanted 3 hours prior to service. Bottle is under screwcap. Moderately dark purple colour (not black), nice and clear. No sediment when decanted.

A great nose. Green peppercorns, plum and blueberries, and mocha with some high quality oak, all really meshed tightly together. I could just nose this for a while.....

... but I didn't. The palate is even better. Plush and velvety, the hardly noticeable tannins slippery and supportive, some acid around the outside and a full, flavourful palate echoing the nose. Long, lingering finish.

I wasn't expecting this level of softness combined with the power and complexity of the flavours. A fine wine indeed (and so it should be at the asking price), that I was expecting would take more time to be drinking well. It will be interesting to see how these age.

Cheers

Allan

[Waiters Friend]

A few years on from the last TN, and there's been some changes. It's definitely showing increased complexity, but perhaps at the expense of "plush and velvety" as noted a few years ago.

The nose has some furniture polish on top of the developed fruit characters, with a little black pepper. There's a fair amount of spice supporting the nose. The palate is where the wine shines: dark chocolate, stewed plums, dark berries and a touch of coffee grounds. Full bodied, weighty palate and well supported by tannins.

At 9 years old, probably time to drink up, and may have been better a couple of years ago. Ce la vie

Allan