Community Tasting Note

• Derek Darth Taster wrote: 93 points

  November 1, 2020 - J&C wedding at OneFarrer. Tasted blind. Drank in Gabriel Standart.
  Appearance is clear, deep intensity, ruby colour. Legs.
  Nose is clean, pronounced intensity, with aromas of chocolate, cassis, cedarwood, blueberry, black plum, black licorice, earth. Developed.
  On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium+ alcohol (14.5%), smooth high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of savoury earth, chocolate, cassis, creosote, black licorice, blueberry, black plum, black pepper. Big long finish.
  Very good quality. Very well-made, and nicely aged Barossa Shiraz. Prime drinking. Not for further cellaring (for my palate).

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6 Comments

• Goldstone commented:

  11/3/20, 12:30 AM - Hi Derek, I'm surprised you think this is not for further cellaring...... I think it has 10-20 years ahead of it to improve, based on the 6-hour decant it needed when I last opened a bottle in 2017. It came in the top 3 of 20-25 Aussie wines a friend and I researched about 10 years ago to try and identify 'the next Grange'....younger winemakers who have accessed 100 year old vines, simply put. Whatever, I enjoy your notes and what you are drinking.

• Derek Darth Taster commented:

  11/3/20, 12:42 AM - I added the qualifier that it is my personal palate preference. My personal experience is that some of these New World Shiraz/Syrah wines gain a lot of savouriness and as the fruit dries out, the acidity sensation dips. So personally I prefer it at the stage where everything including tertiary notes are showing, whilst still maintaining the acidity sensation and vibrancy.

• Goldstone commented:

  11/3/20, 1:21 AM - Fair enough.....but if you ever have a chance to drink a Grange 1971 or a Hill of Grace 1985 I will ask you to challenge your paradigm :)
  
  The acidity issue is an interesting one, because Australian wines are notoriously short of natural acidity and so it has been generally allowed to add 'foreign' acidity in the winemaking process. In my experience, wines in the 1990s now show a 'sour' acidity because the 'foreign' element never really integrated and then pokes up intrusively once the fruit and oak fades.......but I am being very nerdy and there is no need to reply to this part of my comment :)

• Derek Darth Taster commented:

  11/3/20, 1:28 AM - I've drank some moderately aged Grange, and I have to say I think Grange is in a different premier league above the rest of the Aussie Shiraz. So good and such great longevity.

• Goldstone commented:

  11/3/20, 1:50 AM - Mate, if you ever have the opportunity to drink a bottle of Hill of Grace from the 1980s then do everything to experience it. HoG is more feminine than Grange but the '85s and '86s I have drank stand up to anything I have ever drank....including perfect bottles of Ch. Latour '59, for example.

• Derek Darth Taster commented:

  11/3/20, 2:03 AM - Wow wow. Ok aged HoG is on the bucket list.

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