Tasted Blind - Barossa Shiraz 1998 Showdown

Martin C · Post by **Martin C** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 7:33 pm

Lineup: Grange, Meshach, Stonewell, Command & Octavius (12 participants)

1) The most profound nose - creammy vanilla, coconut & toffee. Blackfruits, polished tannins with lively aciditty.
Big but well balance. Excellent lenght. (Octavius ?)

2) Bigger, darker and riper than the earlier wine Supple, giving away slightly in structure. Found it
on the verge of being too stewy(jammy) (Command?)

3) The weakest in the line-up as compared. After tasting the othes this wine was pale and a disapointment.. (Meschach?)

4) Initially 'crushed ants' aromas. Soneone mentioned "roaches" Took the longest time to open up. Once the aromas blew away it revealed plenty of depth on the nose. Massively structure, tannic, this wine is built to last! Huge explosive palate and the finish seems to last forever. ((This has gotta be the Grange))

5) Second biggest wine of the flight. Marvellous nose, palate and finishing. Rich and plush. A very complete wine in every respect. Can't asked for more in a super premium Barossa Shiraz. (Stonewell?)

Wine 1 - Octavius, 2 - Stonewell, 3 - Meshach, 4 - Grange & 5 - Command.

My favourite - 4,5,1,2,3 Grp. - 1,5,4,2,3

Comments: The general consensus found Grange too imposing eventhough it's the most profound and impressive wine of the evening. They prefered the all rounder Octavius followed very closely by Command by a whisker. Everyone agreed on the last 2 choices. The Mechach on it's own may have seen better days but in this line-up, a big letdown.

JamieBahrain · Post by **JamieBahrain** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 2:18 am

Interesting line up.

Some Eden Valley shiraz would have sorted them out Martin!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:00 am

JamieBahrain wrote:Interesting line up.

Some Eden Valley shiraz would have sorted them out Martin!

As long as it had 200% new oak it would have done well......

Martin C · Post by **Martin C** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 1:23 pm

Jaime,
The last time I did a 1994 Shiraz Icon tasting, I did include a H.O.G., n it was completely overshadowed(and wasted)
Have u tried the Hutton Vale 1998?
It's drinking extremely well now. The last time I drank it next to a Stonewell and it showed better.

p/s.Forget about the Noon's mailer. Esp.with RP huge ratings, u will probrably get a windfall b4 getting on the list. Buy it fr the 2ndary market. Eventhough it's inflated, it's worth every singe penny.Their 02'Shiraz was bigger n thicker than the 01 and barely drinkable at the stage.