TN: De Bortoli GS Yarra Reserve Shiraz 1996

[Mishy]

Full nose of dusty red cherry, plummy fruit, black. Soft and silky rich texture, nice oak, and a long serious mature baked fruit and bog decay finish, but something feels lacking.
My friend loves it, but I'm not so easily impressed here. Although nicely aged and still in very good condition with fullness in the mouth, I felt there was some complexity missing and/or some more structure needed.
The fruit is still very full, the finish has power and intensity but I thought there were structural elements either hiding or dropping.
Usually I often see fruit hide or close-up, not usually tannin, and the fruit was beautiful and seasoned with nice maturity and solid intensity - I dunno, it very drank really well with bbq hamburgers.
Either it's where it should be and perfectly at peak, or possibly nearing the end of it's positive evolution.
I might not be too keen to age it any further from this experience.
It's a very good wine now though.

[Attila]

I will be tasting the 1998 at tonight's Shiraz Masterclass. What I think is lacking generally with older De Bortoli's that the fruit is fading too fast when compared to a Barossa or Coonawarra Shiraz.
Exciting to see how the 1998 will perform.
Cheers,
Attila