Australian Shiraz: just excellent
Posted by Theo Heselmans on May 16th, 2009
As I told you last month, we had our tasting of Australian Shiraz. I expected it to be good, but was nevertheless pleased by the raving reactions from the people in the wineclub. They've never been so generous (and agreeing !) with their scores. I sneaked in one more bottle, so ended up with the following 10 wines:
Name Year Origin Alc.% Producer 1 Quay Landing Shiraz South East 13,5 2 Barramundi, Shiraz Reserve Australia 14 Barramundi 3 Rosemount Shiraz Australia 13,5 Rosemount Estate 4 Vat 8 Shiraz, Deen De Bortoli South East 14 De Bortoli 5 Penley Hyland Coonawarra 15 Penley Estate 6 Grant Burge Miamba Barossa 14,5 Grant Burge 7 d'Arenberg 'The Footbolt' Mc Laren Vale 14 d'Arenberg 8 d'Arenberg 'The Laughing Magpie' Mc Laren Vale 14,5 d'Arenberg 9 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Coonawarra 13,5 Penfolds 10 Grant Burge Filsell Old Vine Barossa 15 Grant Burge
I've added the average score (on 20) too. We tend to give rather low points, so scores over 14.5 are rare.
These 4 wines definitely drew our interest and appraisal:
Name and vintage | Remarks |
Penley Hyland 2006 | Black fruit, dark 'fondant' chocolate, smooth tannines, spicy.The 15% alcohol did not dominate. Nice wine for a nice price. |
Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra 1999 | Spicy nose with tobacco in it; Ripe black fruit; powerful yet elegant. |
d'Arenberg 'The Laughing Magpie' 2002 | Complex and spicy nose; hints of 'oxo'. Balanced tannines/acidity, good length. |
Grant Burge Filsell Old Vine 2005 | Pepper, spices and ripe prunes in the nose; Strong but smooth with a very long peppery finish. Worth it's money ! |
Still not convinced? Buy any Australian Shiraz and give it a go. If you're into spicy, strong but elegant red wine, you will not be disappointed.
Category: Wine | Technorati: Wine
Comments (1)
Hi Theo, our favourite Aussie Shiraz at the moment is Mount Edelstone from Henschke ({ Link } ) It's a bit pricey at AU$100 a bottle, but worth it for a special ocassion. A cheaper Shiraz/CabSav blend from Henschke which we also enjoy is the Keyneton Estate Euphonium (AU$40). Then if you really want to splurge you can grab a bottle of their Hill Of Grace Shiraz which retails for about $600/bottle. Haven't tried that one yet :-)