The Auswine Forum

For my birthday, we opened three 2002 Shiraz wines all from Southern Australia, let them air for a couple of hours, and then tasted them over the next several hours while enjoying various appetizers, grilled porterhouse steaks with a dry rub of various peppers and salt, salad, and cake.

Glaetzer Amon Ra (Barossa Valley): This is one of the few wines I've bought from multiple sources over the years and I can't tell where I got this particular bottle. I tried a small sample upon opening the bottle and found it to have a Shiraz nose, but nothing unique. It had a nice, but uncomplicated taste which never changed as the night wore on. I suspect that the bottle could be marred given my prior experience with this excellent producer.

Penny's Hill Footprint (McLaren Vale): I found this to be very lively and fresh tasting. It was not particularly complex either on the nose or when tasting it, but it is a classic lighter style of a Shiraz that went well with food and was generally well received. I noticed that other tasters on CellarTracker suggested it was over the hill now (so to speak) which I did not find to be the case.

Elderton Command (Barossa Valley): This was easily our WOTN. The nose was a combination of classic Shiraz, vanilla, caramel, which transferred over when tasting the wine as well. This had a very long finish, with hints of dark berries and pepper to add to the marvelous mix of flavors. No question but this wine has years ahead of itself to mature.

Amon Ra 02 sounds a bit of a let down - anyone else tried this recently?

I've often wondered about getting some bit it's a bit pricey to buy without trying. I have some 03, 04 and drank all my 05s as I didn't reckon they were going to get better.

I've got two 2007 Amon-Ras but haven't tried one yet. Does anyone have a view on when might be a good time to have a look at the first? (NB - "any time after midday" is not an acceptable answer in this context )

I've had the AmonRa once (2005?) and don't think it a wine with much of a future. I reckon it is a "blockbuster" style wine that is thick, sweet, and highly extracted but without real structure. My friend plans on aging it and so only time will tell who is right.

For the price there are certainly better wines out there.

Cheers..................Mahmoud.

I've only had the 2004, 2005 and 2006. The 2004 was a star and memorable indeed. Beautiful wine and I think I wrote it up on here. I wasn't so keen on the other two. I have heard the 2007 is worthwhile and I have a bottle of that somewhere I think.

cheers

Carl

I've had the 04, 05, and 06 Amon Ra all when they were relatively young. The 04 was my favorite, followed by the 06. Until the 02, I would have told you that all them had a mid to long life ahead of them. And that may still be the case...poor storage has doomed the longevity of many a fine wine.

I'd have put the 04 in the 8-12+ year mark to drink (2012-2014) which is I'm why I'd be surprised if the 02 is falling over.
Most of Amon Ra went to the US in 01/02/03 I think so I only have a single bottle from 02. It's the McLaren Vale version, which I think was the last one Ben Glaetzer made.

I'd have put the 04 in the 8-12+ year mark to drink (2012-2014) which is I'm why I'd be surprised if the 02 is falling over.
Most of Amon Ra went to the US in 01/02/03 I think so I only have a single bottle from 02. It's the McLaren Vale version, which I think was the last one Ben Glaetzer made.

You can still buy all vintages from 02 onward retail in NZ (including both 02's - barossa and mclaren??). Not cheap though. Was it the 04 or 05 we had at my place that time Jay? That's the only time ive ever tried it!