A mirror image of last month’s cabernet theme, we now face the shiraz variant; even-numbered vintages, 1998-2010. Not specifically restricted to Oz, but that’s what we got! As for last month, not a dud wine amongst the lot, although some of these notes are fairly picky, I’ll admit.
- [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878288]NV Lanson Champagne Brut Black Label[/url] - France, Champagne
[Aaron] Disgorged 03/2016. Lovely, slightly developing nose of yeast and grapefruit. Similar palate, with some autolysis characters, but also fresh and lemony. Medium weight, and a medium length finish courtesy of Lanson’s usual medium-sized creamy bubbles. Medium acidity maintains the freshness. About fair value for the mid-$40s it seems to cost these days. Can be kept a while. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878289]2010 Best's Great Western Shiraz Sparkling Grampians[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Grampians
[Aaron] {14.5%} A rather confronting nose of asparagus with a metallic note. Curious. The palate offers more of the traditional liquorice flavour you expect, but doesn’t entirely conceal an asparagus and olive note. Biggish bubbles, fairly lively on the palate, not much oak apparent. Dry; it’s not a party wine. Still has an odd machine-like smell to it – oil or something – for me. Lacks length and complexity I reckon; maybe time will help. Maybe. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878292]1998 Edwards & Chaffey Shiraz Seaview[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
[Geoffrey] {cork, 14.5%} Double-decant two hours earlier. There’s a touch of lifted volatility on the well-developed nose, with plenty of sweet old (American-oaked) shiraz flavours. Liquorice, chocolate, plack plums. And a nod to Rioja too. The palate is more raisiny, ripe too, with not much tannin left, medium acid, medium weight and a medium length finish which just quietly gets more astringent as time goes on. Right at the end of its drinking window this, but very pleasant still. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878294]1998 Wendouree Shiraz[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
[Graeme] {cork, 13.7%} Served after the E&C; much more closed, with developing notes of dark chocolate and a hint of mint, but not aggressively so. The palate is all black fruit, with no green characters here. Iron-like flavours, ferric almost, with flavours of dust and dirt. The nearest to an old-world wine we had all night (port excepted!). Medium dusty tannins, medium acid and perhaps medium-full in body. The flavours are a touch muted at the moment; perhaps a more vigorous decant than a quick double-decant two hours earlier would have helped; but this is about structure more than anything. At any rate this seems like it will sail through another ten years easily. Very good. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878302]2002 Grant Burge Shiraz Meshach[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
[DavidM] {cork} Decanted just prior to drinking. Big cuddly Barossa jam, blackberries and subtle oak on the nose. The palate has more blackberry, liqueured plums, milk chcocolate; you know the drill. Lots of flavour, although there’s a real raisin-like super ripe aspect to it. This was around the time Meshach was being hyped as a Grange-pretender; I think the winemakers were probably trying to stuff as much as they could into it. Now, there’s still medium acidity trying to hold it all together; the tannins are low-level and gently powdery. It’s medium/full-bodied, and avoids heat on the medium length finish. Tasty drinking, about at peak I reckon. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878304]2004 Hardys Shiraz Eileen Hardy[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
[Paul - guest] {cork} Rather muted beside the Meshach; the nose has a quiet vanilla quality to it. The palate is polished, with malt and blackberry flavours, subtle cedary oak, low/medium dusty tannins and a dark and dusty quality. Even palate, properly coating the tongue, finishing medium long. Will benefit from more cellaring, and a decant too. Not a bruiser but aiming for something a bit more nuanced; quietly impressive in its own way. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878305]2010 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 28 Kalimna[/url] - Australia, South Australia
[DavidH] {screwcap, 14.5%} Developing nose; raisin, blackberry jam, and a chippy-oak, vanilla quality to the aromas. The palate is warm, and a bit stewed, in the 21st century Penfolds manner. Baked shiraz flavours, warm in character, a bit light for structure, with low/medium acidity and low-level powdery tannins. Even the mid-palate is pretty soft after the initial burst of flavours; this might age a few more years but I can’t see true complexity on the horizon. Stopped being a truly cellar-worthy wine last century I think. (Actually I think Penfolds has been on a downhill run ever since Duval left.) But much better than a 2012 I had recently. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878306]2006 Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
[Gordon] {screwcap, 14%} Double-decanted before dinner. Another tasting of this classy wine. Mulberry, aniseed, black fruits; oak is integrated on the nose. Has that quality aura about it though. Polished, smooth palate. Has an exotic sweetish twist to the flavours, medium acid, and medium fine, elegantly pointed dusty tannins. Seems very young indeed for thirteen years old. Even palate, medium/long finish. Will age another decade easily. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878308]2006 Clonakilla Shiraz Hilltops[/url] - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Hilltops
[Kim] {screwcap, 14.5%} Immediate decant prior to drinking. Open, brambly, woody nose. Some pong, a bit leathery, and some vanilla/coconut, but not oaky. This might have suffered from following all these South Australia offerings but it was distinctly different, even if not terribly convincing! Some cool-climate spearmint on the palate, over the coconut. Low-key on the tongue, sitting a bit towards the front of the mouth, with low finely gritty tannins and about medium-bodied weight. Palate doesn’t quite live up to the nose; just seems to lack complexity. Not hot on the finish, but it might have been better picked earlier and drunk younger. Will doubtless keep, but there’s no need. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878309]2011 Croft Porto Vintage[/url] - Portugal, Douro, Porto
[Aaron] {375ml, cork, 20.5%} This was very closed against the 2009, to the point where I’ve hardly recorded any actual flavour descriptors at all. Brambles? Warm spirit palate. Plenty of acid. Not especially sweet. Some nutty character. Medium length. Wait, obviously. Drink the ’09, in fact… - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878310]2009 Croft Porto Vintage[/url] - Portugal, Douro, Porto
[Aaron] {375ml, cork, 20%} Black fruit, nutmeg and a varnish quality. Much more open and immediately enjoyable than the 2011. Off-dry, sort-of, with lots a presence along the tongue, with a medium long finish of nuts and gentle spirit. Not as hot as 20% would lead you to expect. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7878313]2010 Reilly's Shiraz Epitaph[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
[Graeme] {screwcap, 15.5%} There seemed to be more time and not more wine, so the back-up bottle went. Some kind of prestige cuvee from a maker I’ve never heard of, this had a fumey aroma, with blackberry liqueur on both nose and palate, with ink and iodine, and raisins. Medium acid, low/medium chalky tannins, but mostly too warmly alcoholic, manifesting as a tip-of-the-tongue presence and patchy, slightly hollow, medium-length finish. Despite the alcohol, there’s also a stalky character in the somewhere too. And a bit too much prune. Well. Epitaph might have been the right name after all. You could keep this if you wanted to, for some reason.