| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.3 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 20 notes) - hiding notes with no text |
| | Tasted by irish87 on 10/1/2022 flawed bottle: Corked. Nothing like aging a wine for 25 years and finding out its been ruined for 25 years. Oh well. (302 views) |
| | Tasted by coterotie on 6/24/2022 & rated 90 points: Went out to a local restaurant, (Hummingbird Way) with my wife, son and his girlfriend.
I started with a Sazerac, then we shared a bottle of champagne off the list. Threw this one in the ice bucket for about 10 minutes as it's just plain hot down here and the a/c's can't keep up and this one was out of the cellar for a few days.
1997 Trevor Jones Wild Witch. The top of the bottle had a chip from a fall, but still remained intact and sealed. Cork in great shape only minimal staining. This wine was always a bit more restrained than the 1996 which lived up to the Wild Witch name. It has smooth round tannins a mellow dark fruit and a mineral quality that one gets with Shiraz. There are some asian spices along with that minerality that gives the wine a very savory finish. Very much enjoyed by everyone at the table.
Dishes were a salad of Brillat de Savarin, golden beets, bresaola. A soup of morels, squash blossoms and lump crab.
Then a whole fried red snapper with curry and peanuts, Blackened Amberjack and Jambalaya, Rabbit with grits and ratatouille and a 24 oz dry aged NY Strip with roasted root vegetables. (306 views) |
| | Tasted by ShadowIII on 8/2/2021 & rated 90 points: Have had this wine a number of times, starting to fade, cedar, still some fruit, currants, mint, more like an old cab than a shiraz (584 views) |
| | Tasted by Nanda on 2/3/2018 & rated 88 points: Blind Syrahs at Chevalier (Chicago, IL): Served blind. Once upon a time, this was totally my cup of tea. Aromas of polished ripe black fruit with some black pepper. Ripe and round on the palate with good fresh acids. And some interesting meat and pepper notes. But the fruit is just a bit too sweet and candied. New world, for sure. (1951 views) |
| | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 2/3/2018 & rated 87 points: Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind (Chicago, IL): Tasted blind. Jammy start, but still nicely fresh. Softer middle, easy landing. Not much nuance, but fun. (1866 views) |
| | Tasted by Harry Cantrell on 2/3/2013 & rated 89 points: Garnet. Nose with a hint of mint,berries, pepper. Taste was mellow, medium weight, short finish. (2906 views) |
| | Tasted by Harry Cantrell on 12/20/2010 flawed bottle: slightly corked nose. Pisser. Deep rich smooth taste. (3640 views) |
| | Tasted by Colia on 12/5/2010 & rated 88 points: Has held up better than the 1996. I hadn't expected such a massive wine to survive 13 years of aging, but it's still quite nice. The savage tannins and big fruit have calmed down and the effect is very reminiscent of crozes-hermitage. (3518 views) |
| | Tasted by KeithAkers on 5/5/2009 & rated 89 points: nose: big cedary and oak tones right off the bat that kind of get in the way of the notes at first. As it opens a bit, the oak scales back and rich tones of blackberries, anise, black cherries, and spices come up, but the oak is still there. Comes across as a bit of a tamed bully on the nose
taste: good body to this with a spicy based attack of black cherries, oak, anise, black berries and dark berry tones. Good medium feel with resolved tannins
overall: in perfect drinking shape right now. The oak intereferes with the nose a bit much for me, as this wine is almost at the cusp. Still an enjoyable drink and made extra fun for the fact that it is a 11 yr old shiraz if anything to learn how they age. (3243 views) |
| | Tasted by JeffGMorris on 4/8/2009 & rated 90 points: Passover visit to Mom's house. Still dark purple in the glass and still a big and brooding wine. Gobs of dark fruit mixed with some fading tannins. Well balanced. Should drink well for about 5 more years. 50+12+12+8+8 = 90 (3200 views) |
| | Tasted by Screameagle on 12/14/2008 & rated 88 points: Similiar to previous bottle this wine has really settled down and probably wouldn't be picked blind as an Aussie Barossa shiraz. Drink last bottle over coming 6 months. (1778 views) |
| | Tasted by mattiasjansson on 7/26/2008 & rated 90 points: Surprisingly elegant for an Aussie shiraz. Nice. (1777 views) |
| | Tasted by Pknut on 2/28/2008: Purchased on release, my last bottle. This Shiraz, at 11 years old, has proven itself to be moderately cellarworthy wine, but I don't think it should be cellared any longer. I recall at its youth it was a wild, effusive, spicy, powerful wine. It is now much more restrained and smoothly contoured, bit also milky creamy oaky and sweet. I find blueberry pie filling, mississippi mud pie and touches of sweet cedar on the nose. Like drinking a blueberry/chocolate dessert. A curiosity, this tamed beast turned sweet. (1864 views) |
| | Tasted by Screameagle on 7/25/2007 & rated 89 points: A 10 year old wine that is showing it age with a slight browning on the edge. I would never pick this as a Barossa Shiraz but it is still tasty none the less. Probably won't improve and I will drink my last bottle over the coming year. (1991 views) |
| | Tasted by JeffGMorris on 11/23/2006 flawed bottle: Thanksgiving dinner at Mom's house. Sadly this was corked. (2281 views) |
| | Tasted by JeffGMorris on 7/3/2005 & rated 91 points: Dinner with Mom. Light purple in the glass. As usual this showed as a full bodied and "wild" wine with rich, concentrated flavors of blueberries and blackberries. Medium to long finish. Nice with some grilled hamburgers. 50+13+12+8+8 = 91 (2351 views) |
| | Tasted by AndrewSGHall on 8/30/2003: (Cinci offline tasting)
Very good, much more subtle and faded than two years ago where it was a full-on bomb, not necessarily in a good way. Good chocolate notes and nice fruit. Short on the finish. (2799 views) |
| | Tasted by OneLastSyrah on 7/2/2002: ($60) Labeled as Dry Grown. About 13.7% alcohol. Full-bodied and complex with lots of different spices and peppery qualities assaulting you from different directions on top of a core of solid black fruit. Has good balance. (1597 views) |
