TN: Wolf Blass Gold Label Shiraz Voignier 2002

David Lole · Post by **David Lole** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 10:54 pm

An impressive example of youthful cooler climate Shiraz.

An attractive, extremely deep ruby with purple edges and an impenetrable core. Perfumed nose of violets, green pepper, exotic spices, savoury oak over a solid core of plum, licorice and blackberry jam. Most intriguing. The palate displays opulent fruit with a silky, smooth mouthfeel at first, gliding down all too easily. Went extremely well with the chargrilled parma-wrapped marinated pork fillets, but with extended breathing the tannins became dominant, overpowering the sweet plummy fruit. With this powerful structure I suggest further cellaring for a few years to allow things to settle down a tad. As with all new labels, regular monitoring may provide dividends. Rated as Highly Recommended. FWIW, this wine cleaned up at last year's National Wine Show. Expect to pay around $22.

ChrisH · Post by **ChrisH** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 10:25 am

Thanks for the note David. Interested to see a note on this one given its successful Show history.

And the added bonus of no apricots too :wink:

regards
Chris

David Lole · Post by **David Lole** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 1:56 pm

I have copied the spiel from the back label for interest:

Sourced from low yielding vineyards in the Adelaide hills noted for producing spicy Shiraz and fragrant Viognier.

Vineyard parcels were fermented seperately in small batch open fermenters. One parcel of Shiraz was co-fermented with a small percentage of Viognier contributing lifted Viognier fragrance on the nose and intensifying the vibrant Shiraz colour. The wines were gently pressed, racked and transferred to seasoned and new french oak for 15 months maturation before blending, light filtration and bottling. Screwcaps were used to ensure freshness and preserve the characters of the wine.

A lifted, intensely fragrant wine showing subtle white pepper, rich black fruits, boysenberry and cassis interwoven with violets and exotic spices. Medium weight with a velvety texture, fine balanced tannins and exceptional palate length, this wine will benefit from 3-5 years cellaring.

14.5% A/V

JamieBahrain · Post by **JamieBahrain** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:39 am

Thanks David.

That is an impressive price-$22-for the in vogue, Aussie shiraz viognier.

Hopefully will find it's way up here.

Red Bigot · Post by **Red Bigot** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 6:55 am

JamieBahrain wrote:Thanks David.

That is an impressive price-$22-for the in vogue, Aussie shiraz viognier.

Hopefully will find it's way up here.

Jamie, it is a good price and a very, very good wine for the price, the only problem is finding any, it's scarcer than hen's teeth here, so I hope it does get up your way.

I scored the last 6-pack from a small retailer for $19/btl, he couldn't get any more, most of it went to VC and was sold (in the high $20's) in limited quantities per person to favoured clients, I posted a rant about this a while back. Gavin got a small quantity that disappeared quickly to email list people here.

Some must have gone to restuarants, saw the remnants of a 6-pack in the cellar at Courgette on Sat. night.

David Lole · Post by **David Lole** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 7:22 am

About a glass of this wine was left in the decanter yesterday. (left open to the air and not refridgerated) Suspecting it would be stuffed and for pouring dowm the sink, a sniff revealed virtually no deterioration although the oak was a little more to the fore - still plenty of spice and pepper. The palate revealed a creamy 'old vine' texture, of medium weight, and the tannins were delightfully integrated and well behaved compared to the latter observations made in my original TN. Still finishes very dry but long and flavoursome.