A bit of a quandry...
Finally got around to trying what I expected to be a pretty reasonable wine, the Mamre Brook 2002 Shiraz. I thoroughly enjoyed the Cabernet from the same vintage, and thought the Shiraz would follow suit. We dont drink medals, but gold and a trophy in Melbourne is a good pointer, as is a good wrap from the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge.
My TN: Opened up with overt vanillan american Oak (almost caramelized) which never entirely dissipated. The wine was clean and fault free, but over the next couple of hours the nose evolved little. There was charry oak (chips), fudge, burnt coffee, bitter dark chocolate and if being kind, the faintest hint of dark blood plum. The palate was hard and dominated by the same overt charry oak. Whilst a mere 14.5%, the alcohol stood out like a hot and spiky beacon. The wine was double decanted and allowed to breath over a couple of hours, but softened little. And in the mouth the fruit had a decided green tinge to it, which I must say I have noticed the same character developing in a couple of other high profile 02 South Australians.
Sorry to wax on. I tried hard to like this wine, but it gave me nothing. Intersted to see what others think.
LL