| Community Tasting Notes (average 93 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 186 notes) - hiding notes with no text |
| | Tasted by cpdwines on 1/1/2023 & rated 91 points: Had to filter twice... (978 views) |
| | Tasted by Ex-Ray on 9/26/2021 & rated 98 points: One of the best Carnivals, at its peak, but not going to fade anytime soon! Still dark garnet and completely opaque, with no hint of brown edges, still huge and powerful, with their typical aromas of massive black fruits with some oak, very pronounced. Extremely full-bodied but better integrated than when younger. It has softened a bit more since our previous bottle a year ago. The tannins have resolved, it is not as hot tasting (but still has high alcohol), and is as good as it will ever be. Extremely long, balanced aftertaste. Nearly perfect, will easily last a few more years.
Ric (2272 views) |
| | Tasted by Sanlucar on 3/14/2021 & rated 95 points: 100% Aussie Shiraz = muscular and dense. Calling this wine full-bodied would be a serious understatement.
4-hour decant yielded enormous flavors of asphalt, anise, baked blueberry pie with black plums, and a top layer of smoked bacon - all buried deep inside this baby monster. Nearly black, it finished a bit sweet but overall was very rich & impressive. (2545 views) |
| | Tasted by Winiac on 3/10/2021 & rated 88 points: Very concentrated and strong, but overly oaked to the bitterness. (2383 views) |
| | Tasted by Wine Girl 2021 on 2/27/2021 & rated 90 points: Drinking a little past it prime but still good High alcohol and strong black pepper notes (2333 views) |
| | Tasted by rexmerlot on 2/9/2021 & rated 92 points: Dark purple in color. Notes of blackberry, spice and white pepper. Great wine, still so young for 14 years of age. (2100 views) |
| | Tasted by mclanew on 11/22/2020 & rated 86 points: Last wine of the night and the worst wine. Popped and poured. It drank like an overdone oozy mess. Worse than I remember the last time. (1471 views) |
| | Tasted by mxpbuy on 9/12/2020 & rated 94 points: One of the better vintages. Decanted for an hour. Liquid chocolate covered Skittles. So dense and overripe the alcohol is not noticeable. A total fruit bomb and so jammy sweet it is almost a dessert wine. Still, the quality is unmistakable. (1321 views) |
| | Tasted by Ex-Ray on 9/8/2020 & rated 97 points: One of the best Carnivals, at its peak, but not going to fade anytime soon! Still huge and powerful, with their typical aromas of massive black fruits with some oak, very pronounced. Extremely full-bodied but better integrated than when younger. Plenty of tannin but enough fruit to stand up to it. Long, hot aftertaste. Best to give it several hours in a decanter.
Ric (1422 views) |
| | Tasted by Ex-Ray on 5/29/2020 & rated 97 points: One of the best Carnivals, at its peak, but not going to fade anytime soon! Still huge and powerful, with their typical aromas of massive black fruits with some oak, very pronounced. Extremely full-bodied but better integrated than when younger. Plenty of tannin but enough fruit to stand up to it. Long, hot aftertaste. Best to give it several hours in a decanter.
Ric (1582 views) |
| | Tasted by jlgnml on 4/10/2020 & rated 94 points: Really terrific right out of the bottle and finished 3 days later. Deep color, sweet finish, lingering on the palate. Youthful. (1494 views) |
| | Tasted by JuliannaDHS on 2/15/2020 & rated 91 points: As others have recently noted, this is still seemingly young. Plenty of fruit and a nice meaty savory element. 16% (?!) Alcohol is well hidden. (1513 views) |
| | Tasted by ny2sc on 2/3/2020 & rated 92 points: Is it the Stelvin caps? It hasn't aged practically at all from the last time I had this wine several years ago. Still same dark purple color and fruit forward. (1433 views) |
| | Tasted by G_H on 12/25/2019 & rated 95 points: Still incredibly young and fresh to drink. Feels a decade younger than 2006. Great stuff! (1590 views) |
| | Tasted by redhead6971 on 11/15/2019 & rated 92 points: A purple almost black color with moderate to fast legs. On the nose black and white pepper stewed black fruits like blackberries and blueberries. Palate was smooth, rich and both red and black dried and stewed fruits, sage, Indian spices and the classic pepper nuances. (1423 views) |
| | Tasted by Winiac on 10/12/2019 & rated 88 points: Overly oaked wine that makes the wine hard to drink and enjoy. Very ripe fruit with good acidity, otherwise. (1291 views) |
| | Tasted by J Bitner on 9/8/2019 & rated 96 points: - Brick color. It's in total harmony with a full body. Satin-Like texture with a long finish. (1324 views) |
| | Tasted by mclanew on 9/3/2019 & rated 92 points: My best experience with this wine. This time I fully decanted over an hour and it helped reduce the jamminess I had experienced in earlier tastings. This time I got a pretty nose of black fruit and herbs. The palate was well integrated if a little alcoholic with loads of ripe black fruit, smoked meat and spices into a long but simple finish (1322 views) |
| | Tasted by mclanew on 7/7/2019 & rated 92 points: Much better than the last bottle I had. I decanted this heavily for an hour and a half which subdued the animal spirits of alcohol and oak so that you realise underlying that there is quite a good wine. The nose is overt with blackberry, chocolate and spice. Leads to a full bodied, unctuous palate of concentrated black fruits, smoked meats, and spices in a full bodied, hedonistic style with a nice long finish. Jammy yes but with a long decant this works and I would recommend it. I have a few more bottles and I know how to handle it this time. (1389 views) |
| | Tasted by mclanew on 6/5/2019 & rated 89 points: Decanted one hour. This is a powerful, jammy modern style wine which no doubt delivers over the top hedonism but lacks a certain distinctiveness. Nice nose with blackberries and violets. The palate is concentrated and jammy but also smooth with a heavy application of new oak. Flavors of blackberry jam, chocholate and spices are prominent. Alcoholic but I didn’t sense much heat. Full bodied with a long finish. The question is will this evolve and be able to absorb some of its jamminess and oak with time. It certainly can age longer. So probably will revisit in a few years. (1498 views) |
| | Tasted by Coachron13 on 5/14/2019 & rated 94 points: Still very fruit forward. Big and burly. Typical eucalyptus in the background. We loved it. (1316 views) |
| | Tasted by Opusone99 on 9/2/2018 & rated 95 points: Sans prise de notes. (1925 views) |
| | Tasted by Opusone99 on 7/27/2018 & rated 95 points: Très belle fiole! (2054 views) |
| | Tasted by Graddini on 5/13/2018 & rated 95 points: Essence of blackberry liqueur and spice. Mouth filling, mouth watering acidity, luxurious intensity. Spectacular and at its peak. Wine of the night. (2289 views) |
| | Tasted by wculpepper on 3/3/2018 & rated 93 points: Decanted for two hours; light sediment. Deep, but clear, ruby red color. Bold nose of blueberries and other dark fruit. Quite full-bodied, intense and complex dark berry flavors with lively acids. Finish goes on forever, but with some heat. Almost like a port, although without the sweetness. Probably will not further improve with age, but should drink well for at least five more years. (2308 views) |
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