TN: Blacktongues - More 2004 Shiraz 2/5/2007
Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 11:41 am
The first red tasting of the year was a review of some 2004 Shiraz, and while we were expecting a bunch of new releases this time these just happened to be all from the same vintage. The voting as usual was pretty scattered, and wasn’t helped when one controversial wine was left in at voting time despite just under half of us thinking it was mildly corked and should have been removed. Overall the top six wines were very good and fairly evenly matched, while the last three didn’t have many fans and shared all the least preferred votes.
As usual all the following wines were double decanted and breathed up to two hours prior to serving, and then tasted blind; after about an hour all 13 participants voted for their most preferred, two next preferred and their least preferred drops. The panel ranking is based on first preferred votes counting for double in the calculations.
2004 Eldredge Blue Chip Clare Shiraz (screwcap) $30: Dark to inky red/purple colour. Plummy/raspberry fruit and some sweet chocolate with just a hint of raisin; very juicy palate of sweet blackberry/fruitcake and chocolate, olive and black pepper characters. The pure, sweet fruit really stood out in this one, so I wasn’t surprised it scored so well.
My ranking: 2nd place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 4 most, 2 second & third, 0 least preferred
2004 Soul Growers Barossa Valley Shiraz $48: Dark to inky red/purple. There’s an abundance of blackberry on the nose of this too, but it’s slightly darker/more briary at first, followed by a fair dose of coconut/buttery oak, chocolate and herbs. Dark chocolate on entry of the palate followed by ripe blackberries and some black olive, finishing long and very tannic. This was always in the running for a vote from me and was a little unlucky to miss out, although it got one from almost everyone else.
My ranking: 4th place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 1 most, 8 second & third, 0 least preferred
2004 Warrabilla Reserve Shiraz $25: Dark to very inky purple/red. Over extracted nose of vanillin oak and a hint of nail polish remover (EA), later overly jammy and reeking of vegemite. The palate’s better, a peppery cherry entry followed by plummy fruit, but while it hid it’s 16% alcohol pretty well the finish was surprisingly short.
My ranking: 7th place
Panel ranking: 7th place
Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 3 least preferred
2004 Kay Bros. Amery Hillside Shiraz $33 (screwcap): Dark purple/red. Green/breezy nose of mint, cherry and white pepper, looking very cool-climate; mid-weight palate featuring and equally green entry, followed by raspberry/plums, and finishing sweet and a little dry again with white pepper. I was convinced this had to be a Victorian wine throughout the tasting!
My ranking: 3rd place
Panel ranking: =4th place
Votes: 1 most, 3 second & third, 0 least preferred
2004 Kimbolton Langhorne Creek Shiraz $20: Dark to inky purple/red. Damp nose scalped by TCA, there’s some resemblance of earthy fruit underneath but the cork taint is stronger with breathing. The palate’s black cherry/plum fruit was equally scalped by the fault, bordering drinkable but extremely short. I lobbied hard with a few others to have this removed but it remained, so I gave it some leniency on the chance it could have been a decent wine if not for the fault and besides, one wine was actually even less drinkable.
My ranking: 8th place
Panel ranking: 9th place
Votes: 0 most, 1 second & third, 5 least preferred
2004 Winter Creek Barossa Shiraz $25 (screwcap): Dark to very inky purple. Ripe, pure blackberry fruit at first before turning slightly green, followed by vanillin/caramel oak; a little varnishy at first, but with breathing the palate came into shape with cherry/plum fruit and a hint of tobacco, finishing clean and well balanced.
My ranking: 5th place
Panel ranking: =4th place
Votes: 1 most, 3 second & third, 0 least preferred
2004 JaJa Barossa Shiraz $30 (screwcap): Very inky purple/red with a glowing rim. Sweet nose of ripe, chocolaty Barossa fruit and shredded coconut; cherry/cola entry with a little VA, followed by surprisingly dry blackberries and some minty alcohol, finishing peppery with a hint of orange rind.
My ranking: 6th place
Panel ranking: 3rd place
Votes: 2 most, 5 second and third, 0 least preferred
2004 Glaymond Landrace Shiraz Mataro $35: Dark to very inky red/purple. Awful, stinky nose full of burnt rubber and tar; the palate’s just as bad with searing 16.5% alcohol heat to go with those rubber characters – I and four others ranked this worse than the corked wine, yet amazingly two panellists rated it their most preferred!
My ranking: 9th place
Panel ranking: 8th place
Votes: 2 most, 0 second & third, 5 least preferred
2004 Spence’s Notron Estate Arapiles Run Shiraz $35: Very dark purple. Sweet, complex nose of tobacco spit, lifted plum/black cherry, boiled lollies and black pepper, very classy and very perfumed. I thought the palate was the classiest of the bunch too, earthy/sweet cherry fruit with tobacco, black pepper and olive, finishing the longest with wonderful powdery tannins.
My ranking: 1st place
Panel ranking: 6th place
Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 0 least preferred
Cheers,
Ian
As usual all the following wines were double decanted and breathed up to two hours prior to serving, and then tasted blind; after about an hour all 13 participants voted for their most preferred, two next preferred and their least preferred drops. The panel ranking is based on first preferred votes counting for double in the calculations.
2004 Eldredge Blue Chip Clare Shiraz (screwcap) $30: Dark to inky red/purple colour. Plummy/raspberry fruit and some sweet chocolate with just a hint of raisin; very juicy palate of sweet blackberry/fruitcake and chocolate, olive and black pepper characters. The pure, sweet fruit really stood out in this one, so I wasn’t surprised it scored so well.
My ranking: 2nd place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 4 most, 2 second & third, 0 least preferred
2004 Soul Growers Barossa Valley Shiraz $48: Dark to inky red/purple. There’s an abundance of blackberry on the nose of this too, but it’s slightly darker/more briary at first, followed by a fair dose of coconut/buttery oak, chocolate and herbs. Dark chocolate on entry of the palate followed by ripe blackberries and some black olive, finishing long and very tannic. This was always in the running for a vote from me and was a little unlucky to miss out, although it got one from almost everyone else.
My ranking: 4th place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 1 most, 8 second & third, 0 least preferred
2004 Warrabilla Reserve Shiraz $25: Dark to very inky purple/red. Over extracted nose of vanillin oak and a hint of nail polish remover (EA), later overly jammy and reeking of vegemite. The palate’s better, a peppery cherry entry followed by plummy fruit, but while it hid it’s 16% alcohol pretty well the finish was surprisingly short.
My ranking: 7th place
Panel ranking: 7th place
Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 3 least preferred
2004 Kay Bros. Amery Hillside Shiraz $33 (screwcap): Dark purple/red. Green/breezy nose of mint, cherry and white pepper, looking very cool-climate; mid-weight palate featuring and equally green entry, followed by raspberry/plums, and finishing sweet and a little dry again with white pepper. I was convinced this had to be a Victorian wine throughout the tasting!
My ranking: 3rd place
Panel ranking: =4th place
Votes: 1 most, 3 second & third, 0 least preferred
2004 Kimbolton Langhorne Creek Shiraz $20: Dark to inky purple/red. Damp nose scalped by TCA, there’s some resemblance of earthy fruit underneath but the cork taint is stronger with breathing. The palate’s black cherry/plum fruit was equally scalped by the fault, bordering drinkable but extremely short. I lobbied hard with a few others to have this removed but it remained, so I gave it some leniency on the chance it could have been a decent wine if not for the fault and besides, one wine was actually even less drinkable.
My ranking: 8th place
Panel ranking: 9th place
Votes: 0 most, 1 second & third, 5 least preferred
2004 Winter Creek Barossa Shiraz $25 (screwcap): Dark to very inky purple. Ripe, pure blackberry fruit at first before turning slightly green, followed by vanillin/caramel oak; a little varnishy at first, but with breathing the palate came into shape with cherry/plum fruit and a hint of tobacco, finishing clean and well balanced.
My ranking: 5th place
Panel ranking: =4th place
Votes: 1 most, 3 second & third, 0 least preferred
2004 JaJa Barossa Shiraz $30 (screwcap): Very inky purple/red with a glowing rim. Sweet nose of ripe, chocolaty Barossa fruit and shredded coconut; cherry/cola entry with a little VA, followed by surprisingly dry blackberries and some minty alcohol, finishing peppery with a hint of orange rind.
My ranking: 6th place
Panel ranking: 3rd place
Votes: 2 most, 5 second and third, 0 least preferred
2004 Glaymond Landrace Shiraz Mataro $35: Dark to very inky red/purple. Awful, stinky nose full of burnt rubber and tar; the palate’s just as bad with searing 16.5% alcohol heat to go with those rubber characters – I and four others ranked this worse than the corked wine, yet amazingly two panellists rated it their most preferred!
My ranking: 9th place
Panel ranking: 8th place
Votes: 2 most, 0 second & third, 5 least preferred
2004 Spence’s Notron Estate Arapiles Run Shiraz $35: Very dark purple. Sweet, complex nose of tobacco spit, lifted plum/black cherry, boiled lollies and black pepper, very classy and very perfumed. I thought the palate was the classiest of the bunch too, earthy/sweet cherry fruit with tobacco, black pepper and olive, finishing the longest with wonderful powdery tannins.
My ranking: 1st place
Panel ranking: 6th place
Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 0 least preferred
Cheers,
Ian