October 12, 2022 - Amazing Aussie shiraz at age 20. The hype was that these "fruit bombs" wouldn't age well. That's not the case. This wine is still dark garnet and opaque. The aromas are black fruits, pronounced, and complex. The flavors still show bright and lively fruit, with a long aftertaste and the tannins mostly resolved. Bravo to Sarah Marquis. The people who said these "smashmouth" wines wouldn't last should taste this now. It certainly has stood the test of time!
Ric
August 31, 2022 - Tasted five times previously since 2013, thought it was at its peak each time. Wonderful shiraz still at its peak, still purple-garnet and opaque, still tastes similar to when it was released. Typical Sarah Marquis style, dark shiraz aromas, very concentrated flavors. Hot, especially on the very long aftertaste. May last a few more years, but perfect now.
Ric
March 30, 2021 - Drank the last one yesterday for my 72nd birthday. Just great!!
August 5, 2020 - 18 yrs old, WA 99pts. Mint and eucalyptus on the nose. Aged nose with some pruniness on the berry fruit. Great balance and lingering finish. We had it with grilled lamb leg kebobs.....beautiful!!!
April 11, 2020 - Wonderful shiraz still at its peak, still purple-garnet and opaque, still tastes similar to when it was released. Typical Sarah Marquis style, dark shiraz aromas, very concentrated flavors. Hot, especially on the very long aftertaste. May last a few more years, but perfect now.
Ric
August 21, 2018 - THis is a very serious wine that should be decanted at least two hours before tasting.
October 16, 2017 - Drank with some good friends who are wine snobs. Let breathe for about two hours. Inky purple. An amazingly fresh ripe black and purple fruit bomb that is integrated, pleasant, no menthol, but a bit of glycerin Very long finish. Excellent new world wine.
September 1, 2017 - Tasted blind, this wine had a very bright red/purple center with some orange a the rim. The medium+ intensity nose was fascinating and spectacular for the first hour or two of it's evolution. It showed cherries, licorice, brown spices, and roasted meat. Unfortunately, by the time hours 2 and 3 rolled around the nose had moved completely toward cassis and became pretty fruity and monolithic.
In the mouth, this wine evolved much the same as the nose. It was very interesting, if a touch hot for the first couple hours and then it became super ripe and fruity. Its structure was buried under all the fruit.
I can see how some would rate this wine extremely high as it was a very dramatic wine. It was a fascinating wine. However, I found it very dificult to project this wine's evolution. Could its overipe fruit subside and its completity come to the fore? I would need a much longer look to even hazard a guess.
August 19, 2017 - Fairly typical Sparky Phillips wine. Thick, lush blue and black fruits, spice, scorched earth and a noticeable and lingering pop of eucalyptus. Alcohol and/or VA tickles the nose hairs. The fruit density stands to the forefront, of course, but there is quite a streak of acid running through it, which makes it taste fresher and livelier than commonly thought of such wines. It's astonishing that at 15 years this wine tastes so young. It's a terrific example of the style. But as I say about these kinds of wine, if you like the style, you will love this wine; if you hate this style, don't waste your time.
August 9, 2017 - Forcefully sexy like being tied up with velvet rope. This is serious, but hedonistically focused.
15 years old and so prime, so dense, so concentrated.
Ok Im going to say it..... this is why I drink wine!!!!!!
The Integrity 2001 was originally rated 99 and then revised down to 97. The 2002 was 99 then down to 94. I have no idea what they were thinking. Omg. This is amazing. I write 500 CT reviews a year and this is for sure in my top 10 of 2017.
The bad news is of course that it's no longer made and only very rarely comes up on winebid auctions. I have 3 left. Yes Im awesome and everyone wants to be my friend. Man this is soooo good!