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It got second place in the under $25 category of the Edinburgh Hotel 2007 Shiraz Challenge.

It's also stupid-cheap.

I want to know if I should buy some.

Anyone tried it?

Thanks,

Stuart

The title of this thread contains a typo. It should read:

TNR: Mike Press Shiraz 2006

beef wrote:It got second place in the under $25 category of the Edinburgh Hotel 2007 Shiraz Challenge.

It's also stupid-cheap.

I want to know if I should buy some.

Anyone tried it?

Thanks,

Stuart

I have

I have



Seriously, I'll leave it someone more independent to comment.

beef wrote:The title of this thread contains a typo. It should read:

TNR: Mike Press Shiraz 2006

Fixed it

I tried a bottle the other night
poured half a bottle into a decanter and left it about half an hour and then drank over the next 2 hours or so

Well balanced, lighter than say a barossa shiraz, but still nicely medium - full bodied. Quite closed but with dark berries and spices on the nose and palate. good length - but not quite full enough.

I was pretty happy for the money.

Then I had the other half the next night - after it had sat in the bottle with the top screwed on.

Wow - all the good points of the previous night, but now it had opened right up. Add in red berries and plums and a much longer finish.

Am now very very happy.
It's crazy value for money - just make sure you give it time to breathe first

Damo961 wrote:I tried a bottle the other night
poured half a bottle into a decanter and left it about half an hour and then drank over the next 2 hours or so

Well balanced, lighter than say a barossa shiraz, but still nicely medium - full bodied. Quite closed but with dark berries and spices on the nose and palate. good length - but not quite full enough.

I was pretty happy for the money.

Then I had the other half the next night - after it had sat in the bottle with the top screwed on.

Wow - all the good points of the previous night, but now it had opened right up. Add in red berries and plums and a much longer finish.

Am now very very happy.
It's crazy value for money - just make sure you give it time to breathe first

The 2005 was the same, needs time to open.

Lovely wine, and yes, crazy price!

I think I mentioned in the 2005 thread that the 2006 drinks slightly better for me at the moment. I think the oak slightly less present and the acidity turned down a notch. I think the 2005 might overtake the 2006 a few years down the track but it is much of a muchness. The really impressive thing is the consistency between to the two vintages!

Agree with all other posters saying that it is superb value and I recommend the cabernet as well as the sauvignon blanc. The partner likes the unwwoded chardy but I find it slightly raw at the moment.

cheers

Carl

Yes, very similar to the 2005 and I like the style but alas, I drank all of the two cases of the 05 I bought. Nevermind, the 2006 is a worthy replacement. The 2005 cabernet is also very nice though not particularly varietal IMO.

daz

For what it is worth, I have tried all the Mike Press current release wines included the soon to be released 2005 Merlot. These wines take value for money to a new level.

Below is my tasting note of the 2006 Shiraz. My father actually rated it higher than I, probably as high as I think it going to be in 2-3 years.

2006 Mike Press Shiraz – 13.5% - Adelaide Hills, SA: Sweet aromatics. Medium/full bodied. Ripe red cherries, blackberry, red florals, red earth, sweet spices and vanilla oak. The palate has richness and its flavours linger impressively carried by fine, integrated and slightly grainy tannin. A balanced and elegant wine with pleasing generosity that needs 6 months to sort itself out, when it will receive a higher rating, and then will benefit from up to another 5 years of cellaring. Currently 89/100 (16.8/20), I would be content paying $18 for this wine.

BTW, I think the 2005 Cabernet is varietal in the modern context.

Adair

I know it's not good form to mention another retailer on Gavin's site but I don't think these guys are working the same sector of the market that Gavin is. However, if Gavin thinks this should be removed I'm happy with that.

I think Get Wines Direct were selling Mike Press Merlot as an Adelaide Hills cleanskin about 18 mths ago at a buy 1 case get one free offer. It worked out to $4.97 a bottle. Some people at my work got together and ordered about 16 cases. They all raved over it. Normally I organise these consortiums at work but I was going on leave and I was wary of the wine at that price and I don't love straight Merlot generally, so I opted out. I was given a bottle to try and it was very nice and the new Shiraz sounds like it's an even better wine. The cleanskin Merlot was a good quality quaffer. This Shiraz sounds like a good 2-3 steps up the ladder but the Merlot was certainly a good reflection on the maker and the winery.

ps: I can't be 100% certain it's the same wine they didn't actually tell me, but I'm 95% sure.

You do realise that Gavin stocks the Mike Press Merlot?

Yeah - GWD stopped selling it about 18 months ago and I don't even remember what vintage it was. That's if it was even the same wine.

Not really gonna affect Gavin now.

Ratcatcher wrote:Yeah - GWD stopped selling it about 18 months ago and I don't even remember what vintage it was. That's if it was even the same wine.

Not really gonna affect Gavin now.

I assure you it was not the soon to be released 2005 Merlot.

Adair

Adair wrote:

Ratcatcher wrote:Yeah - GWD stopped selling it about 18 months ago and I don't even remember what vintage it was. That's if it was even the same wine.

Not really gonna affect Gavin now.

I assure you it was not the soon to be released 2005 Merlot.

Adair

It was the 2003.

Not in the same class as the 2005.

Adair wrote:

Ratcatcher wrote:Yeah - GWD stopped selling it about 18 months ago and I don't even remember what vintage it was. That's if it was even the same wine.

Not really gonna affect Gavin now.

I assure you it was not the soon to be released 2005 Merlot.

Adair

Care to share a TN for the 2005 Merlot?

Thanks,

Stuart

Adair wrote:BTW, I think the 2005 Cabernet is varietal in the modern context.

Adair

But certainly not in the same context as Mildara Coonawarra cab 05 is at a similar retail price, albeit heavily discounted.

Cheers

daz

Daryl Douglas wrote:

Adair wrote:BTW, I think the 2005 Cabernet is varietal in the modern context.
Adair

But certainly not in the same context as Mildara Coonawarra cab 05 is at a similar retail price, albeit heavily discounted.
Cheers
daz

The Mildara is a much bigger wine, in fact it is huge! I actually prefer the Mike Press. However, I believe they are both examples of modern Cabernet in the ripe context. Both wines are easily identified as Cabernet when tasted blind. For what it is worth, I see similarities between the 2004 Zema and the 2005 Mike Press in their ripe red berry perfume/musk on top of darker fruit, and medium-full bodied suppleness.

beef wrote:

Adair wrote:

Ratcatcher wrote:Yeah - GWD stopped selling it about 18 months ago and I don't even remember what vintage it was. That's if it was even the same wine.
Not really gonna affect Gavin now.

I assure you it was not the soon to be released 2005 Merlot.
Adair

Care to share a TN for the 2005 Merlot?
Thanks,
Stuart

I will soon. I was given two samples. One to simply enjoy, which I have done, and one to write a note. It is a Merlot that even Red Bigots will enjoy!

Adair

Adair wrote:The Mildara is a much bigger wine, in fact it is huge! I actually prefer the Mike Press. However, I believe they are both examples of modern Cabernet in the ripe context. Both wines are easily identified as Cabernet when tasted blind. For what it is worth, I see similarities between the 2004 Zema and the 2005 Mike Press in their ripe red berry perfume/musk on top of darker fruit, and medium-full bodied suppleness.

Adair

I think the Mike Press cab 05 needs more time to integrate. The Mildara 05 I thought last night to be more medium than fullbodied but with nice depth of varietal/regional fruit and perhaps the smoothest tannins I've seen in a cab, even more so than the Tahbilk cab 81 I had recently. But I did have a Longhop Shiraz 06 the night before last. To me the Zema 04 is more similar to the Mildara 05 than to the MP 05, probably due to the regional characters they both display. To me, Wynns BL 03 is much bigger than all of the aforementioned wines yet still with distinctive regional and varietal characters.

It's all very subjective where different palates are involved.

I'm looking forward to your TN of the MP merlot. It may be the first of this variety I've bought in a long while.

Cheers

daz

Cheers

Daryl Douglas wrote:

Adair wrote:The Mildara is a much bigger wine, in fact it is huge! I actually prefer the Mike Press. However, I believe they are both examples of modern Cabernet in the ripe context. Both wines are easily identified as Cabernet when tasted blind. For what it is worth, I see similarities between the 2004 Zema and the 2005 Mike Press in their ripe red berry perfume/musk on top of darker fruit, and medium-full bodied suppleness.
Adair

I think the Mike Press cab 05 needs more time to integrate. The Mildara 05 I thought last night to be more medium than fullbodied but with nice depth of varietal/regional fruit and perhaps the smoothest tannins I've seen in a cab, even more so than the Tahbilk cab 81 I had recently. But I did have a Longhop Shiraz 06 the night before last. To me the Zema 04 is more similar to the Mildara 05 than to the MP 05, probably due to the regional characters they both display. To me, Wynns BL 03 is much bigger than all of the aforementioned wines yet still with distinctive regional and varietal characters.
It's all very subjective where different palates are involved.
I'm looking forward to your TN of the MP merlot. It may be the first of this variety I've bought in a long while.
Cheers
daz
Cheers

Totally agree with regard to palate preferences... and wines change quickly with age, and I mean weeks and days not years, as well as storage, what you eat, etc. Sort of makes the emphasis on tasting notes ridiculous, especially of young wines (and white wines more so) when changes happen extremely fast. In fact, I have gone from absolutely loving the 2007 Mike Press Chardonnay to thinking it a bit ho-hum... all in a matter of 4 weeks!

Adair

Tried the 2003 Cabernet the other night and I must say I enjoyed this a lot more than the first bottle of Shiraz I opened.