Tannic brute. The fruit has faded somewhat, but there are some secondary smoke and meat notes to make it interesting. Probably waited too long on this. It went very well with BBQ pork ribs, but impossible to drink by itself.
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Definitely improved with a decant. Smooth, yet firm tannins, meaty, providing a long finish with ample spice notes and subtle dark dried fruit flavors.
Me - 90, Wife - 91
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This Shiraz somehow buried itself in the back of my offsite storage so just now opening a bottle. Classic dark purple in the glass and with 60 minutes of rest in the decanter it delivered a rich nose of dark fruit, pepper & spice, and a herbaceous back-note. On the palate - classic Clare Valley plums & prunes with lovely smoke & spice and a intriguing mineral note that is hard to describe. This is a big wine but nicely integrated and delivering a long Shiraz finish. Bring on the beef! Drink & enjoy now and over the next 2 years if you have it.
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Deep purple/ruby. Pleasant nose. Full bodied ripe black and blue fruit. Not over the top. Good finish. In a good drinking window. Very solid new world wine.
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Very luscious bold wine - not quite over the top, and no glycerin or syrup. Just loads of red and blue fruit with a backbone. Long finish. Not subtle. Probably could go a few more years.
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Brutally tannic and impenetrable at first, dominated completely by structure. After six hours in a decanter it's a very different beast, showing a core of dark berried and plummy fruit tinged by more savoury smoky, tarry, and coal notes, and a bitter but not unpleasant amaro-like note. Compelling wine, but I have no idea how long this might take to actually reach a point of being really drinkable.
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Blind Wines @ Salil's (Vernon, CT): Dark purple in color... very youthful at 8 years of age. Ripe plums, prunes, creosote and spice. Big and porty and tough to figure out where this will go with more age. Not sure I appreciate the style at it's current stage. Not rated.
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CT blind group tasting at my place (Vernon, CT): This was a brutally tannic beast when I last tasted it, but a couple of years later (and with some decanting well ahead of time) it's calmed down a lot more and is really quite enjoyable. Powerful, ripe red and dark fruits with peppery, smoky and earthy accents, though still showing a lot of tannic grip on the back end. It's a bigger, riper wine than the Wendouree that was poured alongside, but there's definitely a stylistic kinship here and I'm glad I still have another bottle (not to be touched for many years.)
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Maybe an 89. I didn't take many notes, but made a note to not buy more of this producer. Not much oomph. A bit thin. A bit acid. Not enough pleasure. "nuff said. I have another. Will try before long.
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Crazy aromatics; starts out with scents of coal smoke, pepper and black fruit - but it's backwards as hell and massively structured in the mouth, with a wall of tannin and acid obscuring the other flavours. Let's see what happens here with some age...
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Woof. At first I'm thinking this might just be backwards, with its wincing high-tension acidity and peppery bite. Give it more time and it's apparent it's not just the acidity that makes you cringe but the alcohol. Shiraz spiked with vodka. It's fairly dense but not slathered with fruit; unfortunately that doesn't exactly work to its benefit as it needs a bit of sweet fruit makeup to smooth out the alcohol. As it stands, there's no pleasure to be had in this.
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Deep purple color - almost black. Fairly muted nose that opened with air time and warming from cellar temp, showing plum, cherries and graphite. A big wine, still very tannic. Black fruit and decent acidity for such a big wine. No warmth from the 14.4% alcohol. Almost an understated style for Aussie Shiraz. Nice. Should improve with a few more years.
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Garagiste Treasure Hunt (Rios d' Sudamerica - Chicago, IL): Inky purple to black. Provocative and complex nose shows aromas of black fruit, pepper, spice, herbs and licorice. Huge palate has rich black fruits and is massively tannic. Stuffed and should come together over the next 3-5 years.
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6/10/2018 - jayw wrote:
Tannic brute. The fruit has faded somewhat, but there are some secondary smoke and meat notes to make it interesting. Probably waited too long on this. It went very well with BBQ pork ribs, but impossible to drink by itself.
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4/13/2018 - GoBlue2002 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Definitely improved with a decant.
Smooth, yet firm tannins, meaty, providing a long finish with ample spice notes and subtle dark dried fruit flavors.
Me - 90, Wife - 91
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12/24/2017 - ogres3 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Still drinking well. Full bodied pleasant and not over the top Oz wine. Average finish.
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12/18/2017 - CMz Likes this wine: 90 Points
This Shiraz somehow buried itself in the back of my offsite storage so just now opening a bottle. Classic dark purple in the glass and with 60 minutes of rest in the decanter it delivered a rich nose of dark fruit, pepper & spice, and a herbaceous back-note. On the palate - classic Clare Valley plums & prunes with lovely smoke & spice and a intriguing mineral note that is hard to describe. This is a big wine but nicely integrated and delivering a long Shiraz finish. Bring on the beef! Drink & enjoy now and over the next 2 years if you have it.
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12/4/2017 - ogres3 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Gave it about 60 minutes of air. New world shiraz. Inky purple. Full bodied deep dark wine. Bold, not overly complex, but pleasant. Long finish.
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8/13/2016 - ogres3 wrote: 90 Points
Drank in Harvey Cedars.
Crowd pleaser. Stir with ripe Oz fruit. Not overly complex but went well with beef.
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7/11/2016 - ogres3 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Missus thought the wine pretty good. She likes full bodied new world wines. Evidently faded a bit day two and after.
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6/23/2016 - ogres3 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Deep purple/ruby. Pleasant nose. Full bodied ripe black and blue fruit. Not over the top. Good finish. In a good drinking window. Very solid new world wine.
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7/14/2015 - ogres3 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very luscious bold wine - not quite over the top, and no glycerin or syrup. Just loads of red and blue fruit with a backbone. Long finish. Not subtle. Probably could go a few more years.
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3/23/2015 - salil wrote: 88 Points
Brutally tannic and impenetrable at first, dominated completely by structure. After six hours in a decanter it's a very different beast, showing a core of dark berried and plummy fruit tinged by more savoury smoky, tarry, and coal notes, and a bitter but not unpleasant amaro-like note. Compelling wine, but I have no idea how long this might take to actually reach a point of being really drinkable.
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9/8/2014 - CamWheeler wrote: flawed
Bibendum Trade Portfolio Tasting 2014: Corked.
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1/17/2013 - indiscriminate palate wrote:
TTTG (very brief notes) (Vernon, CT): Interesting, though not very enjoyable. Cherry. Big, tannic.
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1/17/2013 - mdefreitas wrote:
Blind Wines @ Salil's (Vernon, CT): Dark purple in color... very youthful at 8 years of age. Ripe plums, prunes, creosote and spice. Big and porty and tough to figure out where this will go with more age. Not sure I appreciate the style at it's current stage. Not rated.
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1/17/2013 - salil wrote: 92 Points
CT blind group tasting at my place (Vernon, CT): This was a brutally tannic beast when I last tasted it, but a couple of years later (and with some decanting well ahead of time) it's calmed down a lot more and is really quite enjoyable. Powerful, ripe red and dark fruits with peppery, smoky and earthy accents, though still showing a lot of tannic grip on the back end. It's a bigger, riper wine than the Wendouree that was poured alongside, but there's definitely a stylistic kinship here and I'm glad I still have another bottle (not to be touched for many years.)
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12/4/2011 - drdecanto wrote: 87 Points
Maybe an 89. I didn't take many notes, but made a note to not buy more of this producer. Not much oomph. A bit thin. A bit acid. Not enough pleasure. "nuff said. I have another. Will try before long.
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9/21/2010 - MrSnooty wrote: 88 Points
Decent but unexceptional Shiraz.
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8/26/2010 - salil wrote:
Crazy aromatics; starts out with scents of coal smoke, pepper and black fruit - but it's backwards as hell and massively structured in the mouth, with a wall of tannin and acid obscuring the other flavours. Let's see what happens here with some age...
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4/18/2010 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 65 Points
Woof. At first I'm thinking this might just be backwards, with its wincing high-tension acidity and peppery bite. Give it more time and it's apparent it's not just the acidity that makes you cringe but the alcohol. Shiraz spiked with vodka. It's fairly dense but not slathered with fruit; unfortunately that doesn't exactly work to its benefit as it needs a bit of sweet fruit makeup to smooth out the alcohol. As it stands, there's no pleasure to be had in this.
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12/28/2009 - Alex G. wrote:
Plums, cherries, minerals. Decent balance and finish. A good, food friendly house wine.
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7/23/2008 - mjpaustin wrote:
Deep purple color - almost black. Fairly muted nose that opened with air time and warming from cellar temp, showing plum, cherries and graphite. A big wine, still very tannic. Black fruit and decent acidity for such a big wine. No warmth from the 14.4% alcohol. Almost an understated style for Aussie Shiraz. Nice. Should improve with a few more years.
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5/25/2007 - Nanda wrote: 91 Points
Garagiste Treasure Hunt (Rios d' Sudamerica - Chicago, IL): Inky purple to black. Provocative and complex nose shows aromas of black fruit, pepper, spice, herbs and licorice. Huge palate has rich black fruits and is massively tannic. Stuffed and should come together over the next 3-5 years.
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3/1/2007 - stormygirl wrote: 86 Points
very nice wine, it is really big!!! lots of red fruit and a bit jammy with some dust. I can see this aging quite well. quite dry.
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