First Wednesday Wine Club (Napoli in Bocca, Haberfield): Served blind. Plums, cream, sweet spice, a little wood glue and peppery spice. Juicy, plenty of tannins, black hued fruits, leathery. Hmm. I guessed Mclaren Vale Shiraz 1998
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[2018-09-24] – Color: Medium garnet with light reddish colored rim. Bouquet: Light notes of black cherry, black plum and prune, accompanied with underbrush and earth. Palate: Fruit fade with black plum and muted black cherry, and cola. Short finish, with very light tannin on the front palate but disappearing on the mid palate. Drinkable as a food accompaniment, but a bit tired in my opinion.
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From Magnum. Bright cherry red with some garnet hues. Spicy fruitcake nose and depth of palate which shows its regional origins. By no means a big chewy wine but shows a bit of class. Oak showing but not dominant. Pleasant drinking now.
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The last of a case. The sweet damson and Victoria plum fruit is still there with touches of eucalyptus on the middle palate. Very heavy deposit; left for 2 hours after decanting. A good rich colour with a little browning. Very smooth with excellent mouthfeel and balance. There are still cherries on the mid palate. Rich, spicy 'Christmas pudding' flavours emerged. Something of the 'raspberry jam' mentioned earlier is still evident on the aroma and palate. (This is not a criticism but youthful flavours reminiscent of Scottish (Duerr's) raspberry jam are unusual for me in a South Australian Shiraz.) These flavours morphed into rich Maraschino cherry liqueur in the later stages. Surprisingly complex and, at this stage in its life, it certainly tastes like a much younger wine. Rich, sweet, smooth, characterful Shiraz at its peak - most enjoyable. If you have any, don't hold back but give it time to open. It won't get better IMO.
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Surprisingly, still alive. Won't call it out as spectacular, but had solid palate of cherry with good finish and acidity. Definitely on the decline, I'd drink these up.
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Aged nicely but time to drink. Found this "hidden" in cellar and thought it may be way gone, but while it drank like an older wine, it still had a bit left.
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Very good wine, a classic though one of their entry level wines. 3 gold medals and a silver. 14% alc. Colour: black berry Bouquet: sweet red berry fruit, spice and pepper Palate: as bouquet, raspberry, herb, mint and tar, nice soft fruit tannins with minimal oak input, slightly short finish and good acid. Strong deposit in bottle. January 2015
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New World Blind Tasting Group $40+ (Bin 75): Dark core with chocolate, dull garnet rim; soy, charcoal, currant, sweet fruit, some tar; decent structure, sweet fruit, soy, tart red and dark fruit; ok for being this old.
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Well bricked, black cherry-skin black. A delicious, fresh, bright boysenberry, verry-berry perfume jumps from the glass -- what a surprise! Not complex, but luscious and rather sexy in a getting-down-in-the-garden kinda way, with scuffed knees and some dirtytime. Yes, there's a little decay, but what garden doesn't have some compost? The palate mirrors the nose -- bright black raspberry/blackberry fuit, fresh and up front and behind that a stewy compote of the same; a big sip of strong, black coffee; zero complexity, but pretty tasty. Fairly long, but again no complexity or development on the finish, just dulling jam; decent balance, still has a little tang to it, plenty of fruit, and tannins are resolved, though there's some astringency. This was shockingly tasty to me (at first, it became dulling over time, like a sweat-soaked fleece), as I generally dislike Syrah/Shiraz unless aged and of fine pedigree. But this is just a delicious, juicy little wine. But I'm drinking it quickly, as nothing good will come with air! (Cellared on a whim since release, just to see...).
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Close to the end of a case. It has developed tremendously since the first bottle in 2008. It has always pleased - good sweet damson then Victoria plum fruit with touches of eucalyptus and liquorice. Some bottles showed a slight 'orange' flavour later. Very heavy deposit -essential to decant with care. This bottle still had a good rich colour with just a little browning at the rim. It was quite vanillic with rich red berry fruit and traces of eucalyptus as tasted earlier. Good balance and very smooth. Later, the cherries and cherry stones gave way to a taste that I can only describe as 'raspberry jam' but in a nice way. The same raspberry flavours persisted and became quite prominent on the nose, too. I have not previously detected this in a Footbolt. I will keep some back and see what it is like after 24 hours. 24 h later. More integrated, nice fruit but still has the 'raspberry jam'. Nice.
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This has been kicking around in the cellar for at least 5 years. About time to drink. Very nice. Still fruit driven with nice rich purple color. No sign of age. Medium body with lots of spice, herb, mint, tar and black fruit. Fine grained tannins finish off along with a lingering sweetness from the berry. 1998 was a special vintage in SA with so many great wines with aging potential. The big brother Dead Arm is still an infant. This bottle is at it's best. That's saying something for a 9 year old Shiraz that cost $13.
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1/13/2021 - chatters wrote:
First Wednesday Wine Club (Napoli in Bocca, Haberfield): Served blind.
Plums, cream, sweet spice, a little wood glue and peppery spice. Juicy, plenty of tannins, black hued fruits, leathery. Hmm.
I guessed Mclaren Vale Shiraz 1998
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9/24/2018 - RWallace wrote: 87 Points
[2018-09-24] – Color: Medium garnet with light reddish colored rim. Bouquet: Light notes of black cherry, black plum and prune, accompanied with underbrush and earth. Palate: Fruit fade with black plum and muted black cherry, and cola. Short finish, with very light tannin on the front palate but disappearing on the mid palate. Drinkable as a food accompaniment, but a bit tired in my opinion.
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6/25/2018 - phill mz Likes this wine:
From Magnum. Bright cherry red with some garnet hues. Spicy fruitcake nose and depth of palate which shows its regional origins. By no means a big chewy wine but shows a bit of class. Oak showing but not dominant. Pleasant drinking now.
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9/11/2016 - johnrm Likes this wine: 91 Points
The last of a case. The sweet damson and Victoria plum fruit is still there with touches of eucalyptus on the middle palate.
Very heavy deposit; left for 2 hours after decanting. A good rich colour with a little browning. Very smooth with excellent mouthfeel and balance. There are still cherries on the mid palate. Rich, spicy 'Christmas pudding' flavours emerged. Something of the 'raspberry jam' mentioned earlier is still evident on the aroma and palate. (This is not a criticism but youthful flavours reminiscent of Scottish (Duerr's) raspberry jam are unusual for me in a South Australian Shiraz.) These flavours morphed into rich Maraschino cherry liqueur in the later stages. Surprisingly complex and, at this stage in its life, it certainly tastes like a much younger wine.
Rich, sweet, smooth, characterful Shiraz at its peak - most enjoyable. If you have any, don't hold back but give it time to open. It won't get better IMO.
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9/6/2016 - Hollowine wrote:
Surprisingly, still alive. Won't call it out as spectacular, but had solid palate of cherry with good finish and acidity. Definitely on the decline, I'd drink these up.
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5/17/2015 - cowtownguy wrote: 86 Points
Aged nicely but time to drink. Found this "hidden" in cellar and thought it may be way gone, but while it drank like an older wine, it still had a bit left.
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1/7/2015 - rmarkey Likes this wine: 89 Points
Very good wine, a classic though one of their entry level wines. 3 gold medals and a silver. 14% alc.
Colour: black berry
Bouquet: sweet red berry fruit, spice and pepper
Palate: as bouquet, raspberry, herb, mint and tar, nice soft fruit tannins with minimal oak input, slightly short finish and good acid. Strong deposit in bottle.
January 2015
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12/12/2014 - Rezy13 wrote:
New World Blind Tasting Group $40+ (Bin 75): Dark core with chocolate, dull garnet rim; soy, charcoal, currant, sweet fruit, some tar; decent structure, sweet fruit, soy, tart red and dark fruit; ok for being this old.
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4/27/2014 - Matt Neel wrote:
Well bricked, black cherry-skin black. A delicious, fresh, bright boysenberry, verry-berry perfume jumps from the glass -- what a surprise! Not complex, but luscious and rather sexy in a getting-down-in-the-garden kinda way, with scuffed knees and some dirtytime. Yes, there's a little decay, but what garden doesn't have some compost? The palate mirrors the nose -- bright black raspberry/blackberry fuit, fresh and up front and behind that a stewy compote of the same; a big sip of strong, black coffee; zero complexity, but pretty tasty. Fairly long, but again no complexity or development on the finish, just dulling jam; decent balance, still has a little tang to it, plenty of fruit, and tannins are resolved, though there's some astringency. This was shockingly tasty to me (at first, it became dulling over time, like a sweat-soaked fleece), as I generally dislike Syrah/Shiraz unless aged and of fine pedigree. But this is just a delicious, juicy little wine. But I'm drinking it quickly, as nothing good will come with air! (Cellared on a whim since release, just to see...).
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4/19/2014 - johnrm Likes this wine: 89 Points
Close to the end of a case. It has developed tremendously since the first bottle in 2008. It has always pleased - good sweet damson then Victoria plum fruit with touches of eucalyptus and liquorice. Some bottles showed a slight 'orange' flavour later.
Very heavy deposit -essential to decant with care. This bottle still had a good rich colour with just a little browning at the rim. It was quite vanillic with rich red berry fruit and traces of eucalyptus as tasted earlier. Good balance and very smooth. Later, the cherries and cherry stones gave way to a taste that I can only describe as 'raspberry jam' but in a nice way. The same raspberry flavours persisted and became quite prominent on the nose, too. I have not previously detected this in a Footbolt. I will keep some back and see what it is like after 24 hours.
24 h later. More integrated, nice fruit but still has the 'raspberry jam'. Nice.
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7/31/2010 - trufflehunter wrote: 89 Points
excellent, drinking nicely now but no rush to finish these
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7/25/2009 - Berry Cellar wrote: 85 Points
Excellent
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7/25/2009 - Berry Cellar wrote: 85 Points
Good bouquet, good colour and great taste.
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6/23/2007 - N2Vin wrote: 90 Points
This has been kicking around in the cellar for at least 5 years. About time to drink. Very nice. Still fruit driven with nice rich purple color. No sign of age. Medium body with lots of spice, herb, mint, tar and black fruit. Fine grained tannins finish off along with a lingering sweetness from the berry. 1998 was a special vintage in SA with so many great wines with aging potential. The big brother Dead Arm is still an infant. This bottle is at it's best. That's saying something for a 9 year old Shiraz that cost $13.
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9/17/2006 - last chance wrote: flawed
Cooked or corked. Didn't smell like wet newspaper, but it sure tasted terrible. Bummer.
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