The Auswine Forum

I drank this at their Mandala's restaurant on Sunday.

I don't know what they were thinking producing a 15.4% alcohol wine in the Yarra Valley. That is a ridiculous amount of alcohol in a cool climate region. Sure the wine tasted OK, but the point is it tasted more like a McLaren Vale or Barossa Valley Shiraz. This was all plum, liquorice, and earthen, all characteristics of a warm climate Shiraz. If I am drinking a cool climate Shiraz, I want to be tasting pepper along with wild berries.

shirazphile wrote:I drank this at their Mandala's restaurant on Sunday.

I don't know what they were thinking producing a 15.4% alcohol wine in the Yarra Valley. That is a ridiculous amount of alcohol in a cool climate region. Sure the wine tasted OK, but the point is it tasted more like a McLaren Vale or Barossa Valley Shiraz. This was all plum, liquorice, and earthen, all characteristics of a warm climate Shiraz. If I am drinking a cool climate Shiraz, I want to be tasting pepper along with wild berries.

Not sure what you are implying, it was a dry & warm vintage? Would you have picked it sooner?

Yes I would have.

Unless it's Amarone, almost anything over 15% is something I have avoided for quite some time now.

The 2010 was an absolute cracker of a wine. Wish I'd have purchased more. Only 14% from memory.

Cheers
Ian

Mahmoud Ali wrote:Unless it's Amarone, almost anything over 15% is something I have avoided for quite some time now.

Not Amarone Mahmoud. The wine tastes OK, just not like a cool climate Shiraz. If it was in a blind tasting you would probably say it is a warm climate South Australian Shiraz.

I didn't mean to imply that your shiraz resembled or tasted like Amarone. What I was trying to say and was perhaps a bit unclear is that any wine with an alcohol of 15% and more is something I would put back on the shelf. It often happens with GSMs from Australia. The only wine that I will buy, regardless of the alcohol level is Amarone, and port of course.

shirazphile wrote:

Mahmoud Ali wrote:Unless it's Amarone, almost anything over 15% is something I have avoided for quite some time now.

Not Amarone Mahmoud. The wine tastes OK, just not like a cool climate Shiraz. If it was in a blind tasting you would probably say it is a warm climate South Australian Shiraz.

This implies that Yarra Valley makes more elegant wines based mainly on a winery's decision to pick...is it possible for Barossa to make something like the Hunter or Yarra Valley by picking earlier?

tarija wrote:

shirazphile wrote:

Mahmoud Ali wrote:Unless it's Amarone, almost anything over 15% is something I have avoided for quite some time now.

Not Amarone Mahmoud. The wine tastes OK, just not like a cool climate Shiraz. If it was in a blind tasting you would probably say it is a warm climate South Australian Shiraz.

This implies that Yarra Valley makes more elegant wines based mainly on a winery's decision to pick...is it possible for Barossa to make something like the Hunter or Yarra Valley by picking earlier?

I read it as if you pick later in the Yarra and let that much sugar accumulate then you will begin to taste like Barossa. Doesn't imply the inverse is true. Especially with shorter ripening periods you get in warmer regions it is not always possible just to pick earlier and get a tasty result.