Our last bottle of this, and it was incredible again. Every sip was perfect. We all loved the nose, the flavor profile, the balance, and the incredibly long delicious finish. After about 4 hours of air, it starts to lose a little of it's flavor, so drink up and enjoy!
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Smoked cherries with salami with velveteen textures. That is, a smokey blanket sits across all flavors and the meat element is more like a sour cured meat than, say, typical syrah descriptors like ham or bacon.
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Wow! Totally unexpected. One of the best wines I've ever had. Age has been REALLY nice to this wine. It was simply stellar. Can't find any fault (other than the bottle ran out too soon). Drink now and enjoy!
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Some of the top Aussies actually develop along the lines of the French landmark wines when they get older while at the same time they are a pleasure to drink while young, which cannot always be said for the old world wines. This one has years left to enjoy but is absolutely stellar now.
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Popped this open to celebrate bringing home this lot from the Wine and Food Foundation Auction. This well stored bottle is still very much alive, with blackberry, plum and mocha on the nose. Flavors continue when tasted, with touches of coffee on the finish.
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Cellared since release. Deep in color. Marvelous nose with leather, black fruit, tar and herbs. Elegant and focused on palate with complex flavors and some length. Superb. Amagansett Market sausage and Japanese eggplant off charcoal grill in Southampton.
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From 75cl, perfect cork. Stored in my cellar since purchase from a reliable source in 2003 for 30 EUR. Heavy, slimy deposit occupying bottom 1/5th of the bottle. Stewed prunes on the nose, tired stewed prunes on the palate. An Australian at the table said "oops... school dinners?" - and indeed this was as dull and stale as my memories of 1970s canteen food. Wouldn't have guessed Aussie shiraz blind - perhaps an aged, heat-damaged Pomerol from a poor vintage? A few years ago this was, at least, sweet as jam; now it is simply faded. 82P
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Popped and poured. It tasted better deeper in the bottle. I think some time in the decanter would have helped. Nothing special here. I have purchased various Mitolo and Amon-Ra wines over the years and, as I start to consume them i am underwhelmed. I have not once had better than average experience. Perhaps I have been oversold and am expecting too much. On the other hand these wines are not cheap and expectations should be high. Hopefully I will have an AH! moment with a Mitolo in 2013.
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Color intense burnt umber. Edges show a small amount of age. Nose of stewed black-cherry, Kirsch Royal and espresso beans.Palate has some real nice black fruits highlighted by black-cherries and blackberries. Notes of creamy Kirsch, this is a very pure and focused expression of a ten year old Shiraz. It sometimes borders jammy. Tannins big boned and acidity is flirty, this is quite interesting tonight. Medium to heavy mouth feel with tons of things 'going on'; some minerality, some worn leather and some sweetness. finish is admirable for an Aussie. You will never mistake this for anything else.
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Blind Red 6 - Dark garnet, somewhat opaque. Aromatic with a suggestion of mint, wax, and flowers. Rich sweet attack that comes across a little port-like with sweet red berry fruit and an slightly intrusive strain of volatile acidity playing off a little residual sugar. Obviously done in a fruit-forward hedonistic style, along with the VA, this was pretty easy to guess as an Aussie with a little age. This is decent and really hasn't aged poorly in my opinion. After so many new world wines, the sweetness may have seemed magnified.
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Who needs, or wants, this wine? It is sweet -half way to port-, heavily alcoholic -14,5%- and pure (blueberry-blackberry-SUGAR), but what is the point? Tried with lamb cutlets with garlic and rosemary: nope. swept away by the intense sweet red-grape taste. Then cepes risotto with tons of black pepper: nope, overcome by the blanket of Ribena. Last chance: pepper pecorino cheese? The nearest thing to a food match, but the Sauternes was so much nicer, and only little sweeter... In the hope that this sugar monster will some day turn into a drinkable table wine, a very charitable rating: 88P. Next bottle earmarked for 2020.
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Exceeded my expectations...had one about 5 years ago that didn't really impress me, but this was extremely pleasant. Medium-full bodied, but packed with a huge punch of flavors (but not over the top at all). Only 14.5% alcohol. The nose was evident from about 2 feet away. Very smooth, lush and rich. Lots of dark fruit, pepper, spice, and the background french oak. Actually very elegant - yet powerful. Well structured, balanced, and good acidity. This is pushing the extraordinary mark....and it still tastes so young. Decant, because there is plenty of sediment. Went excellent with a filet. 93-94 pts.
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Opened for a career milestone celebration, this was somewhere between mildly and moderately corked. Although the cork appeared intact, the fruit was also mildly oxidized over and above TCA taint. After spending fifty bucks and cellaring it for six years, it's safe to say this was a major disappointment. Ah well, it happens.
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Sperbowl Wines: A wine that I thought would do well with Superbowl fare. And I was positively surprised by how well this showed. No heat on the finish, not blowsy one bit, not stewed tasting, and no blueberry milkshake...just a very solid Shiraz that showed tremendous restraint, further aging ability and some nice fruit, texture, and good acidity. Was definitely worth what I paid for it and I enjoyed drinking this a much or more than the other wines on Super Bowl night.
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Popped and poured and consumed over a couple of hours. Nice, very good wine but falls short of "outstanding to me". The palate is a little soft and the wine is definitely not as intense as it was a couple of years ago. Nice chocolate, cassis and a little camphor. A hint of some pepper as well. I think that is my last one...I won't be searching it out again.
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Decanted 3+ hours and the nose was still somewhat muted compared to what I knew it could be. Very dark purple/black in the glass, which could fool you into thinking this is an over the top fruit bomb -- but IMO that would only be half right. Nose of plums, blackberries, bit of pepper, and vanillin oak. Lush dark fruits on the attack, along with a velvety silky moutfeel that is worth the price of admission. Wonderful dark chocolate in the finish. Powerful yet elegant and great backbone/structure that held together despite vigorous swirling over the next six hours - hardly fazed, still beautiful. We tried fourteen other wines during the party, and this was the wine of the night. Will drink the last bottle in three to four years.
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A really terrific shiraz. Full of dense plummy fruit, blackberries, blueberries, and dark chocolate, this wine has years ahead of it. Absolutely loved it and was one of my favorites of the evening. I have one more bottle left, but I probably won't touch it for at least 2-3 years from now.
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Popped and poured. Dark, opaque plummy purple - a fair amount of sediment in the bottle. On the nose, a bit muted, with black fruits, some wintergreen, spice, oak and alcohol. On the palate, blackberries, blueberries, oak and pepper nicely balanced by acidity and some subtle tannins sneaking in on the medium finish. Solid effort.
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This, to me, is the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove. Not at all over the top, it was smooth, integrated, and silky. Not what I'm used to in an Aussie shiraz. This was an extremely pleasant experience!!!
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Lovely deep, dark, black fruits that go on for a long time, with some herbal notes on the finish. A good wine--but no-where near the hype / Parker points upon release, and with very few secondary notes/flavors. This paired beautifully with our broiled rack of lamb with herbs, however, and did bring out some herbal notes on the finish. It is a nice wine--particularly upon somebody else's nickel--but it didn't live up to our expectations, and I wouldn't run out and buy a case of it.
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This wine is just awesome. It is intensely and richly deep garnet. The nose is complex and suggests shiraz with a nutty, cherry scent. The taste is also concentrated and complex with black cherries, plums and berries. I agree fully with Parker on this one.
We had this wine at Norm’s tasting 8-10-06. The fruit on the taste was pure cherry jam. It was beautiful but did not compare in complexity to the Majella or the French Syrahs.
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Deep purple to black in color. Full of black and red berry fruits along with hints of licorice and vanilla. Very jammy and just this side of medicinal. Touch of heat at the end which dissipated over serveral hours. No significant tannins. An excellent wine if you like this new world style of shiraz/syrah
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Seattle Tasting Group does 1989 Bordeaux (Issaquah, WA): It is somewhat obscene to follow a set of gorgeous 1989 Bordeaux with a wine like this, as it is just so jarring to the palate. However, with a load of rare, smoky, grilled leg of lamb and some time, this did round into form rather nicely. Jammy, candied, gingerbread and sweet on the nose, the palate is loaded with red fruit, quite vibrant and relatively light on its feet.
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Quite tasty Shiraz. It had licorice and spice from the oak. The wine is now very smooth and drinking beautifully. [About $35 on release; decanted 30 minutes but did not open up until about one hour in the decanter]
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Very purple and young-looking. Intriguing nose of bananas, strawberries, and wet stones. Definite fruit bomb, that reminded me quite a bit of the stellar ’01 Henry’s Drive Shiraz (at a similar price point, too – around $40). Really juicy and silky. Somewhat candied, and almost overdone. For hedonists only. Drink sooner rather than later in order to fully enjoy this wine’s exuberance. Nothing harsh about it, no need to let it mellow out.
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This is a fruit bomb in need of aging. The rich extracted fruit is still hiding and it is to be seen what will become of this wine. I'd like to find out though. 91-92+ points.
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3/2/2018 - wine4ever Likes this wine: 95 Points
Our last bottle of this, and it was incredible again. Every sip was perfect. We all loved the nose, the flavor profile, the balance, and the incredibly long delicious finish. After about 4 hours of air, it starts to lose a little of it's flavor, so drink up and enjoy!
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12/31/2016 - Neecies Likes this wine: 90 Points
Smoked cherries with salami with velveteen textures. That is, a smokey blanket sits across all flavors and the meat element is more like a sour cured meat than, say, typical syrah descriptors like ham or bacon.
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12/4/2015 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 93 Points
consistent with notes of 3/24/2014
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9/7/2015 - wine4ever Likes this wine: 97 Points
Wow! Totally unexpected. One of the best wines I've ever had. Age has been REALLY nice to this wine. It was simply stellar. Can't find any fault (other than the bottle ran out too soon). Drink now and enjoy!
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3/12/2015 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 93 Points
consistent with notes of 3/24/2014
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11/9/2014 - michelvl wrote: 96 Points
Some of the top Aussies actually develop along the lines of the French landmark wines when they get older while at the same time they are a pleasure to drink while young, which cannot always be said for the old world wines. This one has years left to enjoy but is absolutely stellar now.
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7/30/2014 - wine4ever Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still drinking great.
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6/12/2014 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 93 Points
consistent with notes of 3/24/2014
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3/24/2014 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 93 Points
Popped this open to celebrate bringing home this lot from the Wine and Food Foundation Auction. This well stored bottle is still very much alive, with blackberry, plum and mocha on the nose. Flavors continue when tasted, with touches of coffee on the finish.
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6/30/2013 - Nuromri Likes this wine: 94 Points
Cellared since release. Deep in color. Marvelous nose with leather, black fruit, tar and herbs. Elegant and focused on palate with complex flavors and some length. Superb. Amagansett Market sausage and Japanese eggplant off charcoal grill in Southampton.
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6/14/2013 - honest bob wrote: 82 Points
From 75cl, perfect cork. Stored in my cellar since purchase from a reliable source in 2003 for 30 EUR. Heavy, slimy deposit occupying bottom 1/5th of the bottle. Stewed prunes on the nose, tired stewed prunes on the palate. An Australian at the table said "oops... school dinners?" - and indeed this was as dull and stale as my memories of 1970s canteen food. Wouldn't have guessed Aussie shiraz blind - perhaps an aged, heat-damaged Pomerol from a poor vintage? A few years ago this was, at least, sweet as jam; now it is simply faded. 82P
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1/6/2013 - 309VEB wrote: 86 Points
Popped and poured. It tasted better deeper in the bottle. I think some time in the decanter would have helped. Nothing special here. I have purchased various Mitolo and Amon-Ra wines over the years and, as I start to consume them i am underwhelmed. I have not once had better than average experience. Perhaps I have been oversold and am expecting too much. On the other hand these wines are not cheap and expectations should be high. Hopefully I will have an AH! moment with a Mitolo in 2013.
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2/2/2012 - drdecanto wrote: 87 Points
I'd give this an 87. It seems a bit tired. On the downside of life. Not as much oomph/stuffing as I'd like to see. Not as vibrant either.
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10/30/2011 - King Cab wrote: 89 Points
Color intense burnt umber. Edges show a small amount of age. Nose of stewed black-cherry, Kirsch Royal and espresso beans.Palate has some real nice black fruits highlighted by black-cherries and blackberries. Notes of creamy Kirsch, this is a very pure and focused expression of a ten year old Shiraz. It sometimes borders jammy. Tannins big boned and acidity is flirty, this is quite interesting tonight. Medium to heavy mouth feel with tons of things 'going on'; some minerality, some worn leather and some sweetness. finish is admirable for an Aussie. You will never mistake this for anything else.
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10/14/2011 - jreis wrote:
Roasted coffee and stewed plums on the nose, this has not aged gracefully - way too port like.
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7/31/2011 - cadamson wrote: flawed
Unfotunately, tca reared it's ugly head.
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9/14/2010 - OneLastSyrah Likes this wine: 90 Points
Blind Red 6 - Dark garnet, somewhat opaque. Aromatic with a suggestion of mint, wax, and flowers. Rich sweet attack that comes across a little port-like with sweet red berry fruit and an slightly intrusive strain of volatile acidity playing off a little residual sugar. Obviously done in a fruit-forward hedonistic style, along with the VA, this was pretty easy to guess as an Aussie with a little age. This is decent and really hasn't aged poorly in my opinion. After so many new world wines, the sweetness may have seemed magnified.
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5/24/2010 - honest bob wrote: 87 Points
Who needs, or wants, this wine? It is sweet -half way to port-, heavily alcoholic -14,5%- and pure (blueberry-blackberry-SUGAR), but what is the point? Tried with lamb cutlets with garlic and rosemary: nope. swept away by the intense sweet red-grape taste. Then cepes risotto with tons of black pepper: nope, overcome by the blanket of Ribena. Last chance: pepper pecorino cheese? The nearest thing to a food match, but the Sauternes was so much nicer, and only little sweeter... In the hope that this sugar monster will some day turn into a drinkable table wine, a very charitable rating: 88P. Next bottle earmarked for 2020.
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8/7/2009 - wine4ever wrote: 94 Points
Exceeded my expectations...had one about 5 years ago that didn't really impress me, but this was extremely pleasant. Medium-full bodied, but packed with a huge punch of flavors (but not over the top at all). Only 14.5% alcohol. The nose was evident from about 2 feet away. Very smooth, lush and rich. Lots of dark fruit, pepper, spice, and the background french oak. Actually very elegant - yet powerful. Well structured, balanced, and good acidity. This is pushing the extraordinary mark....and it still tastes so young. Decant, because there is plenty of sediment. Went excellent with a filet. 93-94 pts.
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4/14/2009 - Vinacull wrote: flawed
Opened for a career milestone celebration, this was somewhere between mildly and moderately corked. Although the cork appeared intact, the fruit was also mildly oxidized over and above TCA taint. After spending fifty bucks and cellaring it for six years, it's safe to say this was a major disappointment. Ah well, it happens.
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2/1/2009 - steffenpelz wrote:
Sperbowl Wines: A wine that I thought would do well with Superbowl fare. And I was positively surprised by how well this showed. No heat on the finish, not blowsy one bit, not stewed tasting, and no blueberry milkshake...just a very solid Shiraz that showed tremendous restraint, further aging ability and some nice fruit, texture, and good acidity. Was definitely worth what I paid for it and I enjoyed drinking this a much or more than the other wines on Super Bowl night.
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11/13/2008 - tonyvelebil wrote: 89 Points
Consumed last night with bacon and lentil soup.
Popped and poured and consumed over a couple of hours. Nice, very good wine but falls short of "outstanding to me". The palate is a little soft and the wine is definitely not as intense as it was a couple of years ago. Nice chocolate, cassis and a little camphor. A hint of some pepper as well. I think that is my last one...I won't be searching it out again.
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2/15/2008 - otisabdul wrote: 93 Points
Chocolate-covered cherries. Medium-bodied. A pretty wine with a long finish. Extremely satisfying. Drinking great now.
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12/16/2007 - Vinacull wrote: 92 Points
Decanted 3+ hours and the nose was still somewhat muted compared to what I knew it could be. Very dark purple/black in the glass, which could fool you into thinking this is an over the top fruit bomb -- but IMO that would only be half right. Nose of plums, blackberries, bit of pepper, and vanillin oak. Lush dark fruits on the attack, along with a velvety silky moutfeel that is worth the price of admission. Wonderful dark chocolate in the finish. Powerful yet elegant and great backbone/structure that held together despite vigorous swirling over the next six hours - hardly fazed, still beautiful. We tried fourteen other wines during the party, and this was the wine of the night. Will drink the last bottle in three to four years.
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9/2/2007 - Paul Lin wrote: 93 Points
A really terrific shiraz. Full of dense plummy fruit, blackberries, blueberries, and dark chocolate, this wine has years ahead of it. Absolutely loved it and was one of my favorites of the evening. I have one more bottle left, but I probably won't touch it for at least 2-3 years from now.
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6/8/2007 - DLT wrote: 90 Points
Popped and poured. Dark, opaque plummy purple - a fair amount of sediment in the bottle. On the nose, a bit muted, with black fruits, some wintergreen, spice, oak and alcohol. On the palate, blackberries, blueberries, oak and pepper nicely balanced by acidity and some subtle tannins sneaking in on the medium finish. Solid effort.
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1/15/2007 - budman wrote: 92 Points
This, to me, is the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove.
Not at all over the top, it was smooth, integrated, and silky.
Not what I'm used to in an Aussie shiraz.
This was an extremely pleasant experience!!!
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1/1/2007 - Ian S wrote:
Brief taste - full-on and spicy
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8/17/2006 - TashNYC wrote: 90 Points
Lovely deep, dark, black fruits that go on for a long time, with some herbal notes on the finish. A good wine--but no-where near the hype / Parker points upon release, and with very few secondary notes/flavors. This paired beautifully with our broiled rack of lamb with herbs, however, and did bring out some herbal notes on the finish. It is a nice wine--particularly upon somebody else's nickel--but it didn't live up to our expectations, and I wouldn't run out and buy a case of it.
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2/22/2006 - johnwine wrote: 94 Points
This wine is just awesome. It is intensely and richly deep garnet. The nose is complex and suggests shiraz with a nutty, cherry scent. The taste is also concentrated and complex with black cherries, plums and berries. I agree fully with Parker on this one.
We had this wine at Norm’s tasting 8-10-06. The fruit on the taste was pure cherry jam. It was beautiful but did not compare in complexity to the Majella or the French Syrahs.
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9/24/2005 - Blair Curtis wrote: 89 Points
The First Biennial Big Beastly Shiraz-o-rama (Vancouver): On the nose, vanilla and cookie-dough. On the palate the wine is smooth, but too sweet and lacks complexity.
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8/19/2005 - onholiday wrote: 93 Points
Deep purple to black in color. Full of black and red berry fruits along with hints of licorice and vanilla. Very jammy and just this side of medicinal. Touch of heat at the end which dissipated over serveral hours. No significant tannins. An excellent wine if you like this new world style of shiraz/syrah
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6/11/2005 - Eric wrote: 92 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does 1989 Bordeaux (Issaquah, WA): It is somewhat obscene to follow a set of gorgeous 1989 Bordeaux with a wine like this, as it is just so jarring to the palate. However, with a load of rare, smoky, grilled leg of lamb and some time, this did round into form rather nicely. Jammy, candied, gingerbread and sweet on the nose, the palate is loaded with red fruit, quite vibrant and relatively light on its feet.
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6/4/2005 - Winetex wrote: 92 Points
Quite tasty Shiraz. It had licorice and spice from the oak. The wine is now very smooth and drinking beautifully. [About $35 on release; decanted 30 minutes but did not open up until about one hour in the decanter]
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9/18/2004 - Pool Boy wrote: 92 Points
General impression only -- last bottle of mine. I love this stuff. Delectable Shiraz without being over the top or overly extracted. 92 pts
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4/23/2004 - Jeff W wrote: 93 Points
Swedish in London offline. Tasted blind. Soft, with light fruit, good acidity and resolved tannins. Vanilla oak. Liquorice. Delicious. dg
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8/6/2003 - otisabdul wrote: 93 Points
Very purple and young-looking. Intriguing nose of bananas, strawberries, and wet stones. Definite fruit bomb, that reminded me quite a bit of the stellar ’01 Henry’s Drive Shiraz (at a similar price point, too – around $40). Really juicy and silky. Somewhat candied, and almost overdone. For hedonists only. Drink sooner rather than later in order to fully enjoy this wine’s exuberance. Nothing harsh about it, no need to let it mellow out.
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7/28/2003 - Vino Me wrote: 92 Points
This is a fruit bomb in need of aging. The rich extracted fruit is still hiding and it is to be seen what will become of this wine. I'd like to find out though. 91-92+ points.
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