2002 Kay Bros. Hillside Shiraz
I really liked the '01 version of this wine, with its tarry rich ripeness, and was a bit sorry to see the high Parker score for the '02 - figuring this would push the price up (together with the plunging US dollar). Fortunately, the price isn't that high, so I picked one up to see how many more to put away. Compared to the 01 at this point, the 02 is tighter than a drum. The licorice component so prominent in the 01 is missing, it's hard to pick up any true fruit - it all just seems locked up in some black hole, maybe waiting to be released some years from now. Very hard for me to judge at this point. I did use a cup in my braised short ribs (it's been cold/rainy around here for a while) and I think it really made the dish!
2003 Mitolo G.A.M Shiraz
My first go with any Mitolo wine. Brighter and a bit more sweet fruit poking out of the black hole than the Kay, but still pretty unyielding. Some dark blackberry, with hints of brighter boysenberry, medium tannins, decent finish. A huge wine with good potential, but I wouldn't have been able to come up with the 96-100 barrel score that Parker did.
1995 Ausvetia Shiraz
From my earlier days when I payed attention to Wine Spectator. Picked this up on a lark after reading a review, and finally decided to pop it open for no better reason than it was Tuesday
Quite dark garnet, but not opaque, the nose is dominated by vanilla (from the 20+ months in new American Oak). The moutfeel is quite dense and viscous, the oak is there but seems to have integrated reasonably well, and there is some decent ripe Syrah fruit with hints of clove and cinnamon.
I'm still pretty safe in my strategy to buy nothing but 2002 Turkey Flat
Regards,
Alan