The tasting notes are my own impressions, and to be frank I didn’t enjoy many of the wines this time around. You will notice there are quite a few differences between my assessments and the panels, so I’ve included the panel’s final rankings as well this time (where 1st preferred votes count for double, 2nd and 3rd one vote, and least preferred minus one vote).
2003 Brothers in Arms No.6 Shiraz Cabernet (Screwcap) $20: Inky red/purple colour. The nose is earthy, dusty and slightly floral at first with plums and blackberry, turning sweeter and tangy with cherries and nectarine. The palate spicy on entry with peppery blackberry fruit, and alcohol heat on the mid-palate, with some olive on the finish. Despite the alcohol the wine is fairly well balanced, and the panel accordingly ranked it very highly.
My ranking: 6th place
Panel ranking: 3rd place
Votes: 2 most, 2 second & third, 0 least
2002 Brick Kiln McLaren Vale Shiraz (Screwcap) $25: Inky red/purple colour. A very ripe nose of blackberry and a hint of apricot, and heavily toasted oak before closing up completely for the rest of the tasting. The palate opens with ripe, tangy plum & blackberry fruit, with a burst of very-hot alcohol mid-palate, finishing with good length. In contrast to the panel I simply found this too hot and extracted for my liking.
My ranking: =8th place
Panel ranking: 2nd place
Votes: 3 most preferred, 6 second & third, 0 least
2002 Grant Burge Filsell Barossa Shiraz $25: Dark to inky red/purple. Opening with an obvious salvo of sweet Barossa chocolate, this was a powerful and classy nose featuring some varnish, formic acid (VA) and vanilla oak with breathing. In contrast with the first two wines, the entry of the palate was soft, building slowly with tangy, blackberry fruit, again some VA, and finishing long with smoky Barossa chocolate and black olives. This seemed to feature more VA and oak influences than previous tastings but far from excessive in my view, with the best balance of the group; not surprisingly my top wine.
My ranking: 1st place
Panel ranking: 8th place
Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 3 least
2003 Villa Tinto Barossa Shiraz $20: Dark to inky red/purple colour. A extracted nose of stewed blackberry, varnish, some apricot and raisins. The mid-weight palate has a soft entry with some regional chocolate, tangy red berry fruit, some hot alcohol on the mid-palate, and finishes strange with aspirin characters (Wicko described it as lavender). This was definitely a wine that polarized opinions.
My ranking: 10th place
Panel ranking: 9th place
Votes: 0 most, 4 second & third, 4 least
2003 Tyrrell’s Vat 9 Hunter Valley Shiraz $30+: Dark to inky purple/red colour with an impressive glowing purple rim. A funky, complex nose of chocolate, diesel fumes, some apricot, smoke and burnt rubber. The mid-weight palate is equally complex, with a green streak that really reminded me of a Cabernet; a soft entry and tangy red fruits entwined with some capsicum and substantial fine tannins that run the length of the palate, finishing smoky. I was impressed, but quite a few other panellists couldn’t get past those burnt rubber characters on the nose, and ranked it dead last by a large margin.
My ranking: 4th place
Panel ranking: 10th place
Votes: 0 most, 0 second & third, 7 least
2003 Marius Single Vineyard McLaren Vale Shiraz (Screwcap) $30: Inky red/purple colour. A fairly closed, dusty and delicately perfumed nose at first, with banana/vanillan/toasted oak the driving force. The palate opens spicy, and was to me dominated by hot alcohol running the full length. This again highlights the differences in tolerances between the panel and myself, and since it was rated the top wine by such a huge margin Steve Norman’s contrasting note should be referred to:
707 wrote:Blacktongues did a new releases line up last night, mainly 2003 Shiraz but also some 2002s like Penfolds Bin 28 and Grant Burge Filsell to keep them honest.
A couple of wines stood out for me, as they did for most of the sixteen tasters. The pick was the screw capped Marius Shiraz 2003 from a lovingly tended patch of vines in McLaren Vale. I thought the 2002 version was excellent and had great cellaring potential, this wine is no slouch either, a great follow up.
The nose is complex with plums, blackberry and some chocolate and pencil shavings oak in the background. The palate is classy with good weight of rich fruit and a lovely mouthfeel which must be vineyard related as it was on the 2002 wine too. Nice fine grained long finish.
A wine I can recommend from a tiny producer.
My ranking: =8th place
Panel ranking: 1st place
Votes: 7 most, 5 second and third, 0 least
2002 Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz $25: Inky purple/red colour with a glowing purple hue; the best colour of the group. A closed nose throughout the tasting, with subtle hints of perfumed earth, musk, and book paper/restrained cedar. The palate begins soft, but likewise the fruit flavours are closed in by the massive, powdery structure that drive the impressive length, and hints the wine is a mile off it’s best. I said aloud during the tasting that it had nowhere near enough breathing time for a fair ranking, and wasn’t surprised when its identity was revealed. I’d like to see it again in 12 months time to get an idea where it’s going, but for now it looks to have the best weight and possibly cellaring potential of this group.
My ranking: 5th place
Panel ranking: 6th place
Votes: 1 most, 1 second & third, 0 least
2003 Kaesler Stonehorse Barossa Shiraz $30: Dark to inky red/purple colour. A very lifted, ripe and floral nose featuring apricots. The palate opens soft, with ripe, stewed blackberry fruit and some olives. Along with my lower ranked wines, this was too ripe and extracted for my liking, finishing with alcohol heat, some smoke and raisins.
My ranking: 7th place
Panel ranking: 4th place
Votes: 1 most, 4 second & third, 0 least
2002 Bests Great Western No.1 Shiraz $24: Dark to inky purple/red colour. The most floral nose of the group, with geranium, varnish, apricots, deodorant, some dried herbs, burnt rubber and a hint of VA. It was very complex and reminded me a bit of the Yering Station Reserve Shiraz Viognier in last years Super Shiraz II tasting; not my cup of tea, but impressive all the same. The palate like the Tyrrell’s featured a green edge and fine tannin structure that was Cabernet-like in this group; I found the weight and structure slightly superior but that may have been influenced by the surrounding wines. This was another wine that polarized opinions among the panel, and despite some high marks finished in the middle of the pack.
My ranking: =2nd place
Panel ranking: 5th place
Votes: 1 most, 4 second & third, 3 least
2002 Fireblock Clare Valley Old Vine Shiraz (Screwcap) $20: Inky red/purple colour. The nose was very sweet, complex and appealing, no doubt due to some very clever oak handling; dusty coconut, sweet cedar, chocolate, mocha, nutmeg and spices in an ever-changing and intoxicating mixture. The palate opens equally sweet with milk chocolate, turning spicy mid-palate with hot alcohol, and finishing long with chocolate/cherries. I really liked this wine apart from the alcohol on the palate; I think the panel found it was too oaky in comparison.
My ranking: =2nd place
Panel ranking: 7th place
Votes: 0 most, 3 second & third, 1 least
Cheers
Ian