Shiraz at ten years plus – not restricted to local wines, but that was the almost inevitable consequence, I guess.
- 2013 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Millésimé - France, Champagne
{cork} [DavidH] The developing nose has bakery and brioche aromas. Palate leans more to squash and melon fruit, chardonnay-dominated. Fresh and zippy palate, although with a touch of smoke. Medium weight. Quite large, creamy-textured bubbles. Dry, medium-length finish. This is pretty tidy, while falling just short of the ultimate level of complexity. - 1999 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 11 Baulkham - Australia
{cork, 13%} [David - guest] Lots of fading garnet. And Hunter earth and mud, some leather character, no real remnant of fruit though. Soft dusty tannin, medium acidity. Light/medium body, short medium finish but not especially interesting. Drinkable, but not really better than that. Ullage just below neck, decanted at table. - 2012 Teusner Shiraz 'The Riebke' Northern Barossa - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
{screwcap, 13.5%} [Glenn] Deep raspberry/chocolate sort of wine. Very soft powdery tannins and low/medium acidity. In a sense it’s a bit too old in that there’s no real complexity here, just aged black, soft warm fruits and a slippery sort of texture. Medium weight but a short finish, but not too sweet. Well-enough made, and the screwcap has held it together. But not worth keeping longer. - 2001 Tahbilk Shiraz 1860 Vines - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes
{cork, 13.5%} [Graeme] Level still in neck, spongy cork, double-decanted about three hours prior, but was a bit suspicious upon opening and the acetic character never really went away. Leathery, dirty, bretty. Too much mud on the palate and not enough fruit. Medium weight. Little in the way of tannin or acid. Just too faded really. - 2009 Kilikanoon Shiraz M McLaren Vale - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
{cork, 14.5%} [Gordon] A very deep ruby for a wine that’s fifteen-year old. Developing aromas of milk chocolate and blueberry. Voluptuous palate, rich style, not over-ripe, nor over-oaked. That said, the low/medium chalk tannins and lowish acidity suggest that this has nowhere really to evolve. Medium-/full weight, but the structure is a bit soft to cope with the lavish fruit. Decent balance along palate, medium length finish. This is very tidy, ready to drink now. Double-decanted two hours earlier. - 2014 Brokenwood Shiraz Verona Vineyard - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 14%} [Graeme] The Tahbilk being instantly suspect of failure at home, I threw this in as anticipated back-up. It’s still quite closed, getting no air time before drinking. Very much white pepper and spice, cherry and subtle light red fruits. Subtle oak only, medium weight, fine gritty medium tannins, medium/high acidity, medium/long finish. The epitome of modern, polished Hunter shiraz, with twenty years of drinking, and possibly improvement, ahead. - 2015 Jacob's Creek Shiraz Centenary Hill - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
{screwcap, 14.5%} [Steven - guest] Black pepper and blackberry, not over-oaked. Much riper palate, with almost raisin-ripe fruit flavours dominating the structure. Supporting coconut oak, medium/full weight, low/medium chalky tannins, medium acidity. Very Barossa in a modern style. Probably around peak I suspect. - 2015 Hardys Shiraz Eileen Hardy - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
{screwcap, 14.5%} [Geoffrey] Ruby-dark colour. Pointed blackberry fruit. Subtle cedary oak. A polished and deeply impressive palate. Medium body, but with fine medium dusty tannins, balanced acidity. Great depth of black fruit carries the alcohol beautifully. Medium/long finish. Still very young but very much improving still. Wine of the night for me – this is all class with improvement to come. - 2014 McHenry Hohnen Rolling Stone - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
{screwcap, 14.5%} [Andrew] Variety mix-up – never mind. Cabernet, Malbec, Merlot, PV. Black olive, dark green fruit, but unripe. Nose a bit closed; and it’s like a coal-mine on the palate. Still black and olive-tinged, medium weight, medium chalky tannins that gain astringency on the medium length finish. I suspect the lean green, pyrazine character will triumph in the end though. Unsurprisingly, very different to all the preceding shirazes. Not sure that further aging will help this very much. - 2018 Nugan Estate Sémillon Botrytis Cookoothama - Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina
{375ml, screwcap, 12%} [DavidH] Developing aromas all on the honey spectrum, with some vanilla bean too. Medium-dry palate, with more caramel apparent than honey now, rich but quite translucent, no more than medium-bodied. Medium length finish that feels around peak to me. - 2016 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Sémillon - Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina
{375ml, screwcap, 10.5%} [DavidH] Lots of caramel and vanilla bean, in the usual style. Apricot, rich botrytis. Medium/full weight, fully sweet, with pronounced vanilla character. Rather monolithic, as seems to be the 21st century style of this wine – it doesn’t seem to be intended to age in the way the 90s & 80s vintages were. Get into this, at least in this half format.