Plenty of dark fruits on the nose and palate. I also taste chocolate and a funk I can't really describe but not unpleasant, and typical in many syrah that I've had. Finish is long. A great bottle of fully evolved syrah/shiraz. Have 1 more bottle I'll probably drink soon, as I don't see this going anywhere better.
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This has softened considerably since its release. It's still very dark and opaque, with powerful shiraz aromas and very full flavors. The balance is excellent and there now is some complexity and even a bit of elegance. Perfect now, but should easily hold another five years. Ric
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Decanted and drank over 1hr. Lovely rich nose and palate .. with some port character albeit with the 16% alcohol very balanced. I think you could easily keep for another 3-4 yrs but drinking beautifully now.
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Opened last bottle and wow has this wine changed over time...for the better. Still full bodied with blue and blackberry fruit but now with many secondary flavors like cassis, lavender and violet on the finish. Super smooth, bright and fresh...amazing after 14 years in the bottle for a Mollydooker COL.
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A 2006 Australian Shiraz, 16% ABV, under screw cap...never would have thought that I would have guessed that this was a 2014. It is showing no signs of its age. Wine is super concentrated, opaque with no edge bricking. I don’t know what tannin structure was 10 years ago, but there are only well integrated now. Black and blue fruits with moderate acidity. At this point the finish is medium to long. I don’t see any major signs of aging at this point and would expect this to stay in this optimal drinking window for another 10 years.
As others have pointed out, this is a massive wine, even at close to fourteen years! Visually starting to show some signs of age with garnet colors at the edge of a wine that is still a deep, but a dull ruby color. Pronounced and complex aromas and flavors displaying terroir infused rubber, charcoal, dark dirt, smoked meat, black olive, blackberry, blueberry, black cherry, black plum, licorice, dried herbs, coffee and chocolate. Lots and lots of fruit, but IMHO showing no signs of fading. Structural components well in tact with both tannin and acid providing support for further cellaring. Long persistent after taste. Hard to say how long this may cellar, but currently it’s hitting on all cylinders. Outstanding!
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BYOB with friends - Cartoon label theme (The Masses Singapore): A very big power, darkness, lusciousness, blueberry, cassis, coffee, chocolates, cedar, and yet still having cool notes of mint and summer flowers, which gives it an elegant feel. Strangely balanced despite the punch, and so complex. A pretty subtle finish though
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Massiv wine. After 24 h airing in the bottle (had a test sip that was scarily burning 16% alc. and missing fruit.) it was Fantastic. Deep ruby color, cherries on the nose. The wine is massive. Balanced acidity, alc. and fruits. Full bodied. Flavors include sour cherries, red cherries, blackberries, chocolate, coffee and anise. Ending in butterscotch and lasting for a long time. Should have bought more...
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Artichokes, roasted jalapeno, vanilla bean, black currents on the nose, full bodied, less than the 05. Good balance, dark ripe extracted,fruit, oak, dark chocolate cacao. Super long finish. Blue berry Cassis after taste.
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Friday Night with the Beasts (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): This is a proper beast. We decanted but with little impact and even the morning after what was left in the decanter was as fresh as out of the bottle. Big on the ripeness, oak and with a 16.5% alc to go with it. What was unfair to it, and thus the no rating, is we served it after a line up of classics and thus stood out a lot. This is not for the faint of heart.
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This has softened considerably since its release. It's still very dark and opaque, with powerful shiraz aromas and very full flavors. The balance is excellent and there now is some complexity and even a bit of elegance. Perfect now, but should easily hold another five years. Ric
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Needed an hour in the decanter and still only partially opened up. Did not change over the next 2 hours. Although a good quality wine that was well rounded and structurally decent it lacked unique content. Drinking well now.
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The nose is not over the top, suitably reserved with a balanced bouquet of licorice, smoked olives, blue berries jam, earthy cinnamon and black pepper with some dark chocolate. Palate is filled with spicy blueberries juice, toasty oak and mineral salt from entry to finish. Rich and silky mid-palate with a touch of lifted acidity onto a deep and powerful finish. Compared to the other vintage, this one is less complex and layered in the palate. But the texture and structure are comparable. Ready to drink now but best to decant for an hour for the wine to settle down before drinking.
Re-tasted in Apr 2019, nose is still reserved with not much change since Aug 2018, it has more leathery nuance. The palate remains dense and penetrating with lifted acidity and tannins towards the end of the palate to balance the sweet fruits. The high alcohol content is noticeable as you draw in air in the mid-palate and in the finish. No change in score.
Re-tasted in Mar 2024. The nose has opened. Good layers of ripe black fruits, sweet spices and fresh tarragon herbs. No change in texture, mid-palate and finish. To increase the score by 1 pt to 92.
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The nose is a 95, but palate far less so. Classic liquid Skittles on the nose, but the palate falls short in that it lacks the smoothness, layers of black, blue and red fruits and overall richness the nose delivers. Only the '05 Carnival has had the palate match the nose. Nonetheless, still a high quality Syrah that is more than a fruit bomb. Love the screw cap.
Ripe sweet fruit, oak, a confected cocktail wine. I used to love this style a glass at a time and it’s excellent if that’s what you like, but it’s no longer in my wheelhouse.
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Showed surprisingly well considering the pre-existing conditions: unknown origin (gift), storage, and Lo & behold it’s a twist-off!! Figured it had some spice , so I paired with a pepperoni pizza. After the initial blow off, the spice and balance paired well. Not too heavy on the alcohol nor tannins - but definitely benefited from decanting.
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Blueberry jam, blackberry schnapps. Sweet and sticky- some heat on the finish. This was better day 2 when the cool of the fridge numbed some of its excesses.
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decanted for 1 hour before pouring back into bottle for another hour. Lots of coconut butter upon opening. Showed forest notes as well as sweet fruit. Still pretty tannic but very sweet on the palate. The alcohol was evident at 16%
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I am inclined to agree with the other more recent CT reviews in that I think this type of wine is better drunk younger when it still masquerades for something that is a little more complex before showing its true colours. The alcohol has now almost fully overwhelmed the fruit and and it has become a husky alchy skeleton of what it might once have been. Nevertheless, not bad value for a wine that still has a lot to offer.
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Tuesday Night Double Blind $50+ (Alpharetta, GA): Dark core, chocolate, maroon rim; high toned, oak, luxurious, brown sugar, glazed, vanilla, pepper, red pepper, blueberry; texture and sweetness almost overpowering, so weighty, glycerin galore, raspberry and chocolate, very porty, out of place at this tasting; not a fan of this style.
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On the nose vibrant blackberries, blueberries and a whiff of vanilla. Full bodied with almost no tannic grip, showing still rather dense ripe dark fruit with a lot of heat pushing through. A bit austere on the finish from the heat. This wine is so over hyped. More like a ruby port with low tannins. It is over the hill already since the heat started to overwhelm the fruit. Maybe it was better when young, I don´t know. But hey, it is much cheaper to buy a ruby or LBV port than this over priced stuff.
Still very heavy. Vanilla, blueberry plum. I think I prefer these wines younger when the fruit is stronger and the alcohol is covered a bit more. A little strong alcohol.
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Still very dark garnet and opaque. Pronounced deep, smoky shiraz aroma. Very viscous and concentrated flavors, full of power but not much elegance. Definite black fruit with charred wood flavors. Bitter bite on the late palate, which carries through to the aftertaste. Massive fruit, no tannin noticeable. Plenty of heat on the aftertaste. Probably at its peak, but should hold several more years.
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Pop and poured, this was very smooth - invitingly so - right out of the bottle. Somewhat classic South Australian nose, leather, cassis, chocolate, intense cherries/berries and shrubbery. Down the hatch its got a fresh fruit overtone, sides of citrus. A little viscous, made me wonder if this was due to it being chilled in the fridge too long. Still a winner though.
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Kaboom - cliché Aussie shiraz fruit bomb - if that's your style then you'll be all over this - would almost be worth the QPR if it is - great to drink a wine like this every so often, but not very often....
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Stunning in its velvety flavor profile which has developed very well since bottling. After release, I had a bottle just to set a baseline. It was a rough and rugged monster that had no business being anywhere near a glass. I told people it was like eating blackberry jam that had been sitting on a railroad tie on a hot day. It was just so rich, smokey, and bursting with fruit.
I opened the bottle at a family gathering where most of us knew the name, year, and bottle very well. We all just sat silently with our first few sips because this wine was just something that demanded it. We all were just giving it our full attention and it was well deserved. The fruit was still there but everything around it had developed into an elegant woman dressed for a ball instead of teen looking for a punk rave.
I don't usually get into the exercise of describing the flavors because it's been done to death but - suffice to say that this wine is every bit worth the price I paid. It is drinking perfectly right now and should continue for another year or two but if you have some you need to pull the corks on these now as the flavors are so hedonistically perfect that it won't pay to wait any longer. I will be doing exactly that with the remainder of mine.
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At first things stood quite apart: alcohol, oak (caramel) and dark fruit. Over two hours eucalyptus and dark black berry fruit added up with a bacon lift. Still a fat wine with loads of glycerine and alcohol but not bad.
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This has developed into something much more elegant than I expected, no sign of heat (in contrast to the 2005) and the alcohol is beautifully integrated. This will have another 15 years ahead. Impressive!
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Pleasant surprised. Smokey meat. Smooth and sweet. Vanilla cream cookie. Obviously higher alcohol, which is most prominent on the finish. Two things stood out for me. First, the wine was still young and appears to be aging, but very slowly. With one bottle remaining, I'm going to hold until 2020ish. These wines were not known for aging but this seems to be gaining some character and secondary development. Second, everything has a place. Some people will never like this or this style, and that is fine. There are not many occasions where I'd think to open this kind of wine, and it does not fit my everyday tastes. But on this night, the wine was quite enjoyable. We opened it after dinner and drank it without food in a relaxed setting.
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Opened to pair with a sausage. However, this was a bad bottle....the color had a noticeable brown tint and nose was off. Could not drink it...poured it out.
Truly not my style of wine. I sold most of my stock but decide to open 1 of the last 2 I have. I find this wine to be hugely over extracted. Lots of fruit but with super high alcohol you can't taste it. Yes I may be in the minority but simply don't care for this wine.
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Was kind of tight and overly smoky the first night. The next day it was much more approachable and quite delicious. Turns out I forget to gas the bottle and it was open about 14 hours. Happy accident.
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Big, bold and fully resolved at this point. Oodles of blueberry/blackberry flavor to support the 16% ABV, with chocolate notes to finish. For all of its hedonistic pleasures, however, it remains a simple fruit-bomb of a wine. For the price, one would expect some complexity. Several Aussie/Cali wines can deliver this bombastic, one-dimensional taste profile at a fraction of the cost.
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Deep purple in color. A powerful wine that evolves during the evening . Drank last two bottles-this has significant alcohol, but does not come across as hot. Well balanced, although heavier than a traditional Aussie Shiraz. Lingering finish.
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Our first Carnival of Love. Delicious, but it's about what we expected (and hoped for) after drinking numerous bottles of The Boxer over the last half dozen years. This is definitely more nuanced, refined, and less of a jammy, fruit bomb than The Boxer; however, it's not complex and probably doesn't warrant the >$80 price tag. The finish lingers lovingly into the back of the throat for over a minute. There's a lot of sediment, so be sure to filter/decant.
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A lovely creme de cassis. The densest crushed BlackBerry. But at a distance somehow. Or maybe it's a combination of too intense and not quite friendly enough to open up to. So much softer and better with a couple hours of air. 91-92
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Tasted this at the 2006 Australian Shiraz Barossa Valley vs McLaren Vale tasting at Extra Space Boon Keng last night. This wine was pitted against the 2006 Elderton Shiraz Single Vineyard Command.
Wine is more balanced and integrated than the Command. Sweet, with refined notes of berries and plums. An advanced wine that is ahead of its time.
A likable wine, with a highly attractive and colourful label to match.
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Still opaque inky purple. Very pronounced shiraz aromas of tar, earth, leather, some oak, showing some complexity. Coarse, viscous texture. Very full-bodied, typical of Sarah Marquis, mouth-coating, with the typical "bite" on the back of the tongue after 15 seconds or so. Big, hot lingering aftertaste, keeps going on. This is their typical huge style, not for everyone, but we like it with hearty meats and stews. Still has years to go but very enjoyable now.
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Wow! Maybe the critics were onto something with this wine. Although it still smelled and tasted of alcohol, it's other attributes shown. We decanted this bottle to remove the solids and help it open up. The wine is a very dark purple and almost opaque. It is packed with the taste of rich dark cherries and other dark fruits.
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Nearly amarone like with the corvina notes, very sweet, seems very mature already. Nice to drink now but I have absolutely no idea how this will keep. It might develop awesomely but it might as well fall apart.
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Wow! Great wine. Deep purple with intense fruit to match, yet soft tannins making it just a delight to drink. Aroma is out of this world. Lots of sediment requires decanting.
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Boy this is definitely not my style. It's big, oaky, and high alcohol (16%). No typical Syrah complexity of leather, earth, meat, etc - just prunes, bramble, and smokey oak. The mouth gets numb from the alcohol after a few sips, and it does smooth out to a rich, luscious, very full bodied wine. It could pass for a Port or an Amarone. I guess that's the attraction. Silly me - I was expecting a Shiraz....
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Very rich, intense, and alcoholic Shiraz. Deep in color but I don't recall anything special on the nose. Much, much better now then when first I tasted it, but I still don't like all the alcohol.
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Wonderful Wine. Had in comparison with an Enchanted Path (same year). This wine clearly outpaced the EP with strong notes of chocolate, dark berry, and an overall silky finish. I highly recommend this wine as it's a better value than the Velvet Glove. However, this a big, fruit forward bomb of a wine. You've got to like MD wines to enjoy this. The wine looks Inky colored. The legs are Slow.
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A little disappointed that this hadn't evolved. Lost some of that syrupy texture it used to have, but otherwise uneventful. It was fairly smooth and balanced.
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Wow what an interesting wine. Clear dark purple in color. Clean nose of black fruit, spice, and licorice. Dry, med acidity, med+ body, solid tannins, licorice, blackberry, tobacco, and spice on palate. Med+ finish. Great wine
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This was exactly what I expected and hoped it would be. An intoxicating, heady fruit nose, leading to a soft, smooth caramel, vanilla, blackcurrant confection. It's unashamedly sweet, good acid, really doesn't feel like a seven year old wine. It has an amazingly long finish, relatively soft tannins.
I enjoyed this more than the 2009 and 2010 Blue Eyed Boy, but it's four years older. I wonder how it would compare to a 2006 Blue Eyed Boy?
It's a delicious wine but I'm undecided about the value proposition. I paid $90 at a local store and I see that I could have paid $160 at another better known wine store. For me, that's an enormous amount of money for a bottle of wine. Is it worth it?
I don't know.
I do know that my next step will be to try a $260 Mollydooker Velvet Glove. My father would turn in his grave!
Life would be less magic without Mollydooker
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long decant needed ; lots of sediment in this dark blood red shiraz; pricey but an excellent well rounded & hearty aussie shiraz; excellent with grilled lamb loin chops, ready to drink now
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I'm just not as enthusiastic about this style of wine as I was several years ago. That said: for what it is, it seems to be holding up nicely. While its a full throttle wine, it doesn't present at all old, tired or muddied. In fact, I couldn't have predicted this was a 7 year old wine. Big dense extracted fruit. Fairly linear on the palate through the finish - not a lot of nuance. Had it with spiced up chilli, which I think is probably as good a pairing as anything with this (with the possible exception of BBQ ribs). I'd give it 90-92 points. Those still into the style would probably score this higher.
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Needed at least an hour after popping to really open up. Early showing was full of oak, tobacco, and enormous fruit. This all settled into a beautiful balanced well drinking syrah... just delicious, and well paired with spicy dishes. Glad I have more of this.
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Very rich and smooth. Blackberry and blueberry and chocolate. Deep dark purple. A lot of fruit which is typical for Mollydooker, but it felt balanced. Seems like it’s in a good spot and probably still has years to go.
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Fourth and final bottle for me. Tasted one glass on first night, re-screwed and followed over the course of day 2. Very little has changed from my last note two years ago, including the color. Still fully opaque purple. Aroma seems a tiny bit more floral than before and has let go of some of the brambly Crackerjack. Greater integration in the profile now, also helped by the extended aeration today. Silky smooth and more complex than the Boxers, Blue-eyed-boys, and Enchanted Paths that I've tried. Still a 93-94 pt in my book
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Blackberry and sweet coconut. Beautifully penetrating. This kicked off with fireworks of fruit that had been holed up too long. Then for an hour or two the alcohol actually overpowered that fruit. Finally it settled down and gained some relative balance in hours three and four.
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This is some of the best tasting Shiraz I have ever had! On the same level as Penfold's Grange. Long lasting finish and definitely not enough in one bottle!
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This stuff is terribly high in alcohol and it doesn't disguise it well. This is my second tasting of this miserable excuse of a wine and it did not improve. What fruit I could taste seemed simple but pleasant with a crushed cherry strawberry flavors. I cannot believe this is the same wine that the wine press tasted and gave high scores.
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A good Aussi big Shiraz, but way oversold by JM. Has a good sized nose, with tobacco and big red fruit. However fairly simple. A little hot. Middle length finish
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- Violet color and aromas of raspberry, strawberry, cherry, strawberry jam and vanilla. It's unbalanced and has flavours of cherry and oak with a full body. Juicy texture with a medium finish - How can you not love this wine?!
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Nice Aussie Shiraz. Think Velvet Glove junior. 2 hour decant, nice nose of berries and lots of HEAT on the initial taste. Nice finish but not too much complexity on the palate. Good Aussie Shiraz, not sure I could get to the WS 95 though. Suggest a 4 hour decant on this one.
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Dense, fruit forward and decadent Shiraz from Mollydooker. Needed about 20 minutes to open up. Perfect match for a French cut rack of lamb from -- you guessed it -- Australia. Long-lasting tart yet flavorful finish that went on for nearly two minutes. When you're in the mood for a powerful Shiraz, these guys know how to bring it.
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- Brick color. It's balanced and has flavours of blackberry, black currant and prune with a full body. Juicy texture with a long finish - Please read my previous notes.
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- Brick color with medium forming legs and aromas of blackberry. It's balanced and has flavours of prune with a medium/full body. Narrow texture with a medium finish - Dark brick red in color. Almost like syrup in consistency. A great Shiraz.
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Blueberry nose - very juice oriented. Hot in the mouth, heavy and not integrated. I've had the 2005 and it was a lot better. Its not the screwtop right?
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Look Out! Decanted for over an hour and chilled yet she could use more. Really liked it but had trouble loving it becasue I couldn"t get over its hot attitude. So smooth through the mid palate and enjoyable.. Only problem is that it tends to overwhelm the tastebuds with the heavy alcohol atitude.
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Valentine's Day redux: over 5 years now I've tasted this vintage and it hasn't changed much. Smokey black fruit with a creamy finish, but it does take some time to open up. If you like this flavor profile (as the reviews attest, it's a polarizing wine) you'll not be disappointed. This is one of the many reasons I love Valentines day.
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Deep, rich, brooding black fruit on the nose with supper smooth entry and mid palate. Thankfully lacks the tartness of many high end Aussie Shiraz. Finish is wonderfully long and balanced with a bit of alcohol and acidity coming through and inducing your next sip. WOTN and just dominated the other bottles on the table, was the last opened and first to go! Can't wait to try the 05 again, as I have felt it was even better than the o6!
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New World Wonder -- Not for Old World lovers but Fabulous for what it is, rich and lush with just enough road tar and gravel to make it a worthy experience
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A spouse almost always has some trepidation going to his wife's work place holiday party, so to ease the unease, I thought I would sneak in this little beauty to the holiday pot luck. The art in tonight's exercise is that while this wine is a very big and wonderfully serious wine, it is disguised with --- yes --- a screw cap. As a result, I hid the bottle in the back, and my spouse and I were able to enjoy the wine without fear that someone else might discover and abscond with the bounty. This wine is still young, but it is showing quite well now. Big Aussie fruit. No rough edges. Ripe. Rich. A classic Aussie fruit bomb, but with that smoothness that is signature Mollydooker. Thanks Sparky!!
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- Brick color with slow forming legs. It's balanced and has flavours of blackberry, black currant and burnt toast with a full body. Satin-Like texture with a medium finish - Dark ink in color. Loaded with blackberries among other fruit. Big alcohol. Tannins are still there but not what they used to be. A big bold wine.
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Did someone get the plates on that car that just hit me! Drank over 3 hours. Nose is massive, powerful, glad to see a good herbal scent, brown sugar, good fruit of blueberries. Had no subtlety, or fines. Palate was milk chocolate, some thyme and heavy dark fruitiness. Finish was long and tongue coating. I did enjoy this, but could not imaging drinking this on a regular basis.
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Screw top bottle, opened and decanted for 1.5 hours, consumed over the following three hours. Very heavy sediment noted. Dark inky purple in the glass, with a full body. Incredibly strong nose of blackberries, creme de cassis, caramelized sugar, with a slight soil and herbal note. Never has creme de cassis been more fitting as a descriptor, as this was practically a liqueur. There was also a lot of heat on the nose that never dissipated. On the palate was dark fruits, caramel, spice and quite a bit of heat. This heavily concentrated beast has low acidity, low tannin and is anything but elegant. While sharing this with my significant other, she stated "I think I've had $20 wines that taste like this" and I'd be apt to agree. Well, I mean, it may take a splash of vodka, but it'll be pretty close.
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OK, there is no denying that this is pretty much a baby port, but man is it good. The fruit is so ripe, rich and sweet that you can't stop taking sip after sip. Delicious down to its core, with a wonderfully aromatic nose and a long, long finish. Purely hedonistic and tasty. Would recommend.
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Blind White Throwdown (Roberts House, Philadelphia PA): for better or worse, this is what it is -- slutty concentration of fruit flavors and alcohol. could you make a mixed drink that tastes like this? yes. but it still tastes good. this felt a little less concentrated than the previous COLs ive had and was not up to par with the 05.
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Blind White Throwdown (Our House (2033 Brandywine St., Philadelphia)): In the 3 plus years since I last had this, my tastes have dramatically changed. That is not to say that my notes have changed -- they really have not. It just that what I appreciate and enjoy in wine has changed a lot. Over the top oak. The oak dominates. Port-like character on the nose blended with the oak. Cherry and blueberry. Very dense on the palate. Chocolate and cream but way too much oak at this stage, and not enough structure. The structure really is what bothers me. This is "tasty" in that it tastes good and is enjoyable to drink under the right circumstances. But from a "wine" standpoint, I have a hard time with it. It is an over the top, concentrated massive wine, and those have a place in the wine world, I suppose.
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Pronounced complex cassis-earthy aroma. Full-bodied flavors, plenty of fruit. Very balanced; moderate tannin but well integrated under the fruit. High alcohol back of the tongue and also on the aftertaste. Excellent and ready, but should easily last several more years.
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Monster wine. Loads of blackberry, blueberry and any other berry you can imagine...this is a total fruit bomb. However, despite how big this wine actually drinks, it still has good structure with chewy tannins nicely integrated into the fruit, particularly after an hour being decanted. This is one of the best Aussie Shiraz I have had in a long time.
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This had loads of great fruit, but there was some heat showing on this as well. I've been a big fan of the 05 COL, but the 06 isn't nearly as fun to drink.
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Popped and poured. To be fair, we drank this with smoked albacore, grilled halibut and kung pao octopus. Lots of blueberry flavor, tobacco and spice. Multi dimensional and interesting flavors lasting for well over 30 seconds on the palate. Still, I feel less and less enthusiastic about this wine.
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There is no question about the origin of this wine with the requisite heavy and weighty body. After some airing, aroma of smoke, meat and chocolate with good dose of dark berry envelops the senses. While there is nothing new here, all the components part do gel together rather than being disjointed or one dimensional. I have stopped buying Barossa shiraz but I am not disappointed by this McLaren Vale.
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Valentine's Day again? Already? This is the fourth V.D. that I've popped open a Carnival and it is still an explosion of of smoldering, smokey fruit. This bottle was not as layered or nuanced as previous bottles and the finish not as creamy. The blueberry/cherry flavors were buried under the smokeyness and no amount of air let them emerge. It's probably an awkward phase, or maybe just this bottle. Two more bottles left, so the extended tasting continues next year. Same time, same place.
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Unscrewed and decanted about an hour. Black plum color, fully opaque with slow legs and very heavy sediment. Profound cracker jack, evergreen shrub, bacon, vanilla, and fresh cut flower aromas. Palate is creamy smooth and completely coats the mouth with unctuous ripe fruit. There is a very bold and proper acidity level carrying the myriad of nice flavors but overall, it is not fully harmonious or seamless, yet. Obviously a controversial wine that although isn't perfect, is worth the price imho. I did adjust my initial score down from a 95 because it lost a good share of bouquet after 8 hours or so open. I preferred the balance in this bottle over the one I had 2 years ago so I'm banking that it will show even better integration with more time. 5+13+18+8 = 94
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Molly Dooker is one of my favorite Aussie labels, and among the top of my list is the Carniva of Love, which I've had in 2005 and 2006 bottlings before. My experience was very consistent with many of the other tasters here. Bright red & berry fruits on the nose with an undertone of vanilla and a hint of spice. Still hot & alcoholic though. Luscious red with some dark berry flavors shined through on the palate, but again HOT & alcoholic, and evolved only a little over time. Did NOT show a ot of complesity as I have come to expect from this wine. Have had it before, and not sure if it's going through a late sleeper phase. Has potential to age a good long time and I think it's potential is in the 95+ rating category . . . but on Thanksgiving, it came up short! Worth only 92.
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We were surprised by how monolithic this wine presented. The nose was deep black fruit with some vanilla but was quickly lost by a wave of alcoholic heat. First taste was pretty much the same as the last -- super ripe fruit with never a twist or layer of other flavors. Then finished with another hit of the alcoholic heat. This bottle reminded me of a goshawk that goes right at the prey -- no maneuvering, no beautiful movement -- just a straight attack that gets the job done. Overall, a disappointing bottle of wine for all the wine descriptions and price.
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This followed a 2004 Glaetzer Bishop, both Aussie shirazes paired with lamb tagine. Ran the Carnival through a Vinturi and decanted for a couple of hours. The Carnival, in contrast to The Bishop, showed redder fruits, as opposed to black and blue, and brighter notes (I'm borrowing from observations by the wine's presenter) with more complexity and a structure built for the long haul. Wonderful structure, but still evolving: I think this could easily go a decade or more, but what a treat it was to drink now. Outstanding now; will almost certainly improve with more cellar time.
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This was my first Carnival of Love, so I expected more of a new world fruit bomb, but it had old world notes. It was very good, but not as good as the Parker / Spectator reviews in my opinion.
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Decanted over 3 hours which was necessary to mellow it out. Very smooth and integrated. As evolved got spicy, smooth finish. Not as heavy or a fruit bomb as others have stated and will get even better over time. Will open next bottle in 5 years. Outstanding.
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ALWAYS a party favorite! So big, so wonderful - never disappoints! Monstrous wine, still possessing all the power that it has had for the last few years. Good now, could last years (seems like forever!). This has to be the best value Shiraz (except, of course for the Boxer!).
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Brought to a restaurant. Double decanted an hour before. it needed another 2 hours in the decanted on the table to open up and show its stuff. A big ripe monster. Loved it, although this is not my style anymore at all.
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No surprise here. Lots of fruit but it maintains some class. Dark berries, vanilla oak, anise. Just like a good corny comedy. It works and makes you smile. Popped and poured and it seemed fine.
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popped, poured out 4 oz. into decanter, recapped and did the shake, decanted for 1 1/2 hours. Needs more time in both the bottle and decanter to integrate better. By the end of the decanter, the yeasty taste/smell blew off, the fruit was purer but it lacked complexity that I'm expecting will come in a year or two now.
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This wine is finally calming down, still has a fruity nose, but less than it was, still got fruit, but less than before, its getting ready for its mature phase, will wait a couple years before revisiting.
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Dark purple to rim. Strong nose of blackberries, blueberries, moderate vanillin oak. Very full-bodied, all about up-front bright ripe dark and red fruits but good balancing acidity, not much complexity, good finish, not hot or overly alcoholic. Outstanding. Preferred by most to the SQN Labels, though some preferred the Labels with the food. Labels was my favorite.
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This wine really impresses me for some reason. Loaded with fruit. All kinds of berries. You may find this hard to believe, but you must shake the bottle of wife before you are ready to pour. Try this and you will see quite a difference. Has some spice to be noted as well.
My 100th note! So, I found myself with a glass of this in my hands and boy I was very excited to try this very controversial wine. I saw this as another chance to settle some thoughts on international-style wine, and this to me seems a watershed moment in that I now must indeed be a confirmed traditionalist. But anyway, I brought my nose to the wine where there were strong aromas of new oak, both in the form of toast and vanilla, along with sur-mature blueberry fruit, and perhaps wood smoke. On the palate are waves of massive and layered oak-slathered, superripe blueberry fruit, and really not much else. Certainly well-made, with good, sweet tannins, I took this wine to be unbalanced: the wine's lack of freshnening acidity and alcoholic finish hardly betray harmony --and I mean for a modern-styled wine. I've read the reviews of these wines, and the nuances described were just not present; I must admit that I think that I haven't seen the best this, and really other wines of this style have to offer. 90?
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Has improved in the year and half since last tasted. Still an aperitif style wine, but the alcohol isn't quite as noticeable. Served this to some fans of "cheap" Aussie shiraz, and they definitely appreciated the upgrade in quality. This rating reflects the wine's character within the category of Australian shiraz, it is above average in comparison to its peers.
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Decanted for 3.5 hours, and it just started to open up. I don't know if I can add much to the notes already listed, but I did like this. This has what I can only describe as an "opulent deliciousness" not for everyone, but I can still roll with a massive fruit bomb every now and again.
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Dittos from last year: Another Valentine's Day, another Carnival. It hasn't changed notably from last year, still a layer cake of blueberry and cherry fruit drizzled with smokey coffee cream. Mollydooker doesn't recommend the 'shake' for wines more than two years old; we're well past that point. That said, it does take some air to open up this bruiser.
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Wine has matured into a beauty. Last tried 2 1/2 years ago. It was fantastic then...but has an added amount of depth and maturity now. The heat was not noticable on the nose or palate. It is definetly a fruit bomb...and in that style...it excels. Craves a seared steak on the grill. Can't wait to open the next one!
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Dark purple color with nose of spice and red fruit. Lots of extraction. Flavors of red fruits, leather, cedar, and spices. a bit of heat at the finish. Nice integration and balance.
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Color: Dark purple Nose: Subtle with spice, pepper, plum Taste: Pepper, spice, plum, oak Tannins are medium Finish: Medium with pepper, spice, plum, oak Evaluation: It improved with 4 hours decanting but did not measure up to the Shafer Relentless Syrah. 92 points
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Really decent shiraz. full bodies, deeply colored. Held up the second day. Recommended highly, one of the better Aussie shriaz I have had. Will go about another 5 years at least.
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Drinking a lot better since the last time I tried this. Decanted for 2 hours and was busting with fruit. Big wine and not for some who don't like this style. Went beautifully with the rib eye.
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Disappointing. Opened for father's day, did 2 MD shakes. Didn't really get that much fruit, definitely tasted alot of alcohol and glycerin. Subsequent pours showed signs of opening up,but it never quite got to where I wanted it to go. Definitely too young, but might not be as much there as we'd all like.
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Decanted for 90 minutes. Dense and rich baked cherries, blueberries and mint. Anise mid palate. A little heat but well integrated. Very long finish. Wait 2 more years for next bottle
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Definitely not my style. Cherry cough medicine with high alcohol content. Decanted for 3 hours and did the Mollydooker shake. 97 points? $80.00? Not much I could say here. Hugh amounts of sediment and what appeared to be stems on the bottom.
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Performed the Mollydooker shake, and left to decant for 3 hours (almost certainly not enough). Consumed with Roquefort, Valdeon, and Epoisses. Valdeon was an excellent match. This is a highly alcoholic wine, and it makes no pretense at being anything else. It dominates the nose and palate. A lovely dark red, we noticed red fruit and maybe some licorice aromas, and slight chocolate over time. Taste was very alcoholic and required time to mellow to be drinkable. With cheese it was excellent, but it definitely needs time to get oxygen to blow off and something to cut the heat. Tannins were virtually unnoticed. Enjoyed, but hard to drink a lot of it, and not sure that it's worth the price of admission.
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I agree with other reviewers that this has not changed much since last year. From 58 cellar temp, MD twice-shake followed by respi-aerate to decanter. Initial taste was dense with chocolate covered cherries with vanilla creme. Returning three hours later, the candy store smell receded and aromas of coffee and spices were joined the sweet jam of cherries and raspberry, which stayed essentially the same of the next 4 hours of sipping. Once again I was reminded of the full-bodied velvety mouthfeel bursting with premium sweet fruit, and this by far is the best feature of this wine. Beyond that, the bouquet was less explosive, the finish was relatively shorter, and mild heat was noticeable in the finish compared to my note of 6/19/08, in addition to the fact that there is relatively little complexity on the palate. Delicious? Unquestionably lip-smacking yummy. Deserving of WS95 (and #8 of top 100) as well as RP97? Now that's hard to swallow. Worth the $85 wallet sting? No, and ouch. Having had many (maybe too many) Mollydookers over the last three years, it seems there is nothing in the profile that warrants waiting and over time they lose the explosive vibrancy that helps make them great. We'll drink our last COL ('05) by end of the year.
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Another Valentine's Day, another Carnival. It hasn't changed notably from last year, still a layer cake of blueberry and cherry fruit drizzled with smokey coffee cream.
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Wow. Tight on opening, but mellowed after approx 1 hour. Great finesse along with power. One of the best Shiraz wines I have had. Great fruit, not overpowered by the Shiraz "hammer" so evident in other wines.
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Drank with the Curry's at the house. A near perfect representation of what it is which is: over-the-top shiraz. Fruit driven, big new oak influence and a little sweet. I can enjoy this in the right frame of mind, but it take some effort. DRE's notes below are right on the money for me.
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A little too much alcohol threw it out of balance in my opinion -- I agree that it benefits greatly from a little time in the glass/decanter, and it helps reveal a somewhat soft, velvety texture, but even after 3 hours of sitting the fruit seemed to be drowned by the alcohol.
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Tasted double blind - I correctly identified this as a young aussie shiraz. Nice nose - lots of fresh bright fruits. Port like on the palate, unctuous,thick fruit. Some black pepper, spice, dark fruits. Would score higher if it weren't such a monolithic monster. A meal in itself.
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This was a near perfect Aussie Bomb. HUGE fruit attack on the nose as well as mint. Cream, Vanilla. Velvet smooth. Needs about 2 hours in the decanter. Ridiculous mouth feel, great mouth feel. Great loong finish. A bit too much sweetness was the only flaw on this.
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Bodacious! Pitch dark in color, This wine is big, concentrated and extremely dense. It focuses around Rich Blueberry Cream, Prunes, Raisins, Vanilla with some very subtle spice notes. Well balanced with Silky tannins. The 06 dooker has what it takes. (Best from 2010-2020) - JD 96+
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Wow what a bouquet. Wine is young and still outstanding. Right out of bottle nose was great, hints of violet, chocolate. However, straight from bottle was disappointing. After a couple of hours of decanting the real wine showed up. Once it opened up it was great. Can't wait to try next bottle in 5 years.
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Loaded with ripe, purple fruit that stains the pallet. This wine really benefits from a short decanting. Out of the bottle it was shut down (yes, I shook it first), and did not exhibit much in terms of complexity, or smoothness. Frankly, I was somewhat disappointed. I decanted the next bottle for about one hour and witnessed a drastic improvement. A fine balance and velvety texture became evident, as did a pleasant nose of red fruit. Very dense, dark fruit with vanilla and wood undertones. I usually don't prefer wines with alcohol content this high (16%), but the forwardness of the flavors created enough of a balance for me to be satisfied with it. It's not something that I would serve with dinner, but it's good in front of a fireplace with a little cheese and chocolate..... and someone you love. This wine will cellar nicely, and should be at it's peak in 2-3 years.
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I decanted this for 9 hours. That was not my initial decant time but sometimes life gets in the way of wine and you just have to deal with it.
The wine was clear, deep opaque core with almost no rim. The nose was clean, ripe fruity, jamy cassis with a bit of heat and bold plywood flavor. On the palate this guy was dry but not as huge as i was expecting. (probably the 9 hours helped, lol) First thing i noticed was the moderate + acidity that balanced out the bold jamy body. Sandalwood struck me head on as the oak was showing awkwardly. Tones of flavor in here though, mint, cocoa/ovaltine, butter come together with the supple fruit and smooth big body of this wine. The finish was very long and is pure blueberry. Tannins are dusty and suit the wine now, I would imagine they will slip away quickly as this wine ages. Excellent Quality, although I have had many Ausi wines like this at half the price point. Drink or hold - 2014.
Kudos for being able to hid 16% alc.
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Amazing flavors and depth. So many things to pick out on the pallate. If you just look at the wine on the surface, I could easily see people having troubles with the Huge flavors. But, I liked finding the extreme amount of flavors in it.
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Fabulous wine. Lovely fruit, dark and ripe. While the fruit is quite pronounced, I didn't find it to be the typical fruit bomb that you would expect from Mollydooker. I found this wine to be very balanced. Soft, velvety tannins and nicely balanced acidity. Lots of vaniila. Spice, some smoke, and cedar flavours round out the finish, which is very long and pleasant. This is great right out of the bottle, but some open time really does wonders for this wine. It's a bit on the expensive side for me, (especially because I'm in Canada and here it's about 105 a bottle) but well worth it for any special occasions. I will be buying more for the cellar.
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This was unctious, bordering on bombastic. The ultra-ripe jammy fruit nose gave way to a full bodied and bodacious palate of ripe red fruit, loads of vanilla oak, hints of brown spice and graham cracker, and a nice long finish. Hedonistic.
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In contrast to the 2005, I didn't find this to be a pop and pour (or, rather, a pop, pour a tiny bit, recap, shake vigorously, reopen, allow nitrogen to escape, and pour) bottle. It took about half an hour before it integrated. After that, deliciously long, over-the-top Mollydooker blackberry.
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Huge Wine, Smooth, Not overly complex right out of the bottle, a bit sweet, didn't impress that much initially, port qualities, thick, unctuous, etc...Initial impression:91. Gave it 24 hours in bottle and it really started to show added depth and complexity, much better nose w/o much alcohol vapors, 'cool' mouthfeel, fruit matched by spice and smoke. 93 points. I have a few more bottles that I will wait a few years on and I recommend decanting this at least for a few hours for maximum development. Overall: 92
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Huge Wine with big dark fruit and impressive body and finish. Not your "old world" style, but it was just about one of the best things going in new world wine...
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This was simply amazing shit -- the party consumed it like the last vapors of the last moments of oxygen on earth. Sweet, balanced, rich & smooth. Damon pulled it from the cellar, and he was right -- this kicked ass -- plain and simple.
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Wife's genetic testing for cancer came back neg, so click-clack goes the screwcap and bring on the love. MD twice-shake, aerate decant, let sit one hour. Color dark cherry-purple, opaque. Bouquet in the room and in the glass is an explosively pure essence of blueberries, sweet cherries, flowers adding perfume, cream, oak, and tar. Initial taste we were struck by the sheer depth of cherry/raspberry fruit wrapped in chocolate, the velvety mouthfeel, the silky smooth virtually-hidden tannins, and the long finish of about 45 seconds. As we approached the end of the first glass it came together more, becoming more expressive in the nose and flavors. Returning from the restaurant at hour 5, the bouquet has added pungent expresso and mint leaf to the mix which is really nice, while the flavors on the palate are the same but now there is some alcohol burn in the midpalate that is not so welcome. Overall, this was memorable for the ample endowment of fruit and the sexy mouthfeel. But also controversial and has its negatives IMO. The mouthfeel draws on the fact that the body is so full/heavy it approaches syrup in the glass - even heavier than what I believe were better Sarah and Sparky days, as with the '02 and '03 Integrity. The fruit is so big, sweet and hedonistic, it seems like it has put a ceiling on anything else to give it complexity, and makes me wonder whether or not there would be any evolution with age. I won't take the risk by waiting; we will drink our next/last '06 within 5 years. I also agree with another reviewer's comment that I have a problem with shaking the wine like grape juice before drinking. It's like we are now participating in the winemaker's manipulations, and if you don't, the penalty could be a bomb that is muted, awkward, and alcoholic - and we have had lesser MD's that have tasted that way. DAY 2: 30 hours later after sealing a half-glass, the bouquet shows slight oxidation on the fruit, and there is a strong perfume that's just like my french press coffee in the morning - quite nice. Interesting that it still does not seem to have gained complexity, only air. Even though I had already had a few tastes of other wines, the alcohol in this one catches me in the throat. Still delicious and the finish is just as long.
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Cesare's Group (Home - Minnesota): Deep, dark, super-extracted. With the heavy oak/vanilla, it's difficult to pick out varietal-specific characteristics. Nevertheless, for those (like me) who enjoy a big, bad fruit forward, oak forward monster for sipping, this one fits the bill. It would be a challenge to pair this one with food, with the exception of something smothered in sweet BBQ sauce. I have a feeling that this can age nicely, over the midterm at a minimum (3-5 years). I don't have enough experience with this style of wine to know how it'll end up beyond that.
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This wine did not live up to all the buzz going around. I was really let down, I looked at the bottle for months and months. I finally purchased it and the screw top didnt bother me. Poured one in a glass, poured another to decant..I found the wine to be too fruit forward, too sweet, OVER POWERING AND NOT BALANCED. The fruit gave it an almost syrup like texture, and was hard to find other flavors. R.P. Missed this one
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Extremely dark purple with mocha carmel on the nose. This wine felt more like a chewy fig leaf with medium tannins and a mellow finish. Very good, but didn't live up to the hype for me. Hoping for better things in the next couple of years.
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Delicious! Inky purple and dark, giving way to a reds and blues. This had a ton of fruit on the nose, mainly cherry and blueberry. It is exceptional in the mouth. Thick and rich. Most prominent are chocolate, cream and cedar with hints of cherry. It takes several tastes to unravel all of the levels of complexion. The length is incredible. It just goes on and on. At 16.0%, you simply would not know. It is so amazingly integrated. That is the big difference between this wine and Blue Eyed Boy and Two Left Feet. We have 3 bottles remaining and will not try again for 3+ years. If we can wait that long.
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Opened with a young lady friend. Did not know what to expect given the mixed press on the Mollydooker wines, and the predominantly negative Australian reviews on the wine's alcohol content.
Red purple. Astonishing nose, rich berries are detectable from a good 2m away! Rich mouthfilling palate, light on tannins but still somehow chunky. Thick viscous almost syrupy wine. The flavours are intense, berries and fruit of every variety seem to reverberate through your mouth. I didn't find it particularly spirity I might add, although after sharing the bottle we could certainly feel the 16% content.
By no means a particularly elegant or complex peice of winemaking, but hard to beat for sheer sensual pleasure and intensity of flavcur. Pretty hard not to really enjoy this one, I thought. Can't imagine it going very well with food, but an interesting taste experience on its own terms. A big hit with the aforementioned lady friend. Would definitely drink this again.
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Purple and black, extremely dense, very thick. Roses, caramel corn, juniper in a high-intensity nose. Oak notes are solid, too. Huge fruitiness emerges from a blanket of velvet and spice. Walks a fine line between dry-off dry. Continues to grow on you sip after sip. Until, after a full glass I'm going, "This is borderline Port. Enough already." It's really, really delicious and I fully see the controversy. It's pretty much like nothing else I've ever tried and is a real conversation-starter among guests. Does better than other MD's at keeping the high-alcohol in check on the finish. (5+13+17+8) = 93
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Pebble Beach Food and Wine; 3/27/2008-3/30/2008 (Pebble Beach Resort, CA): Nose of dark fruit but not as forward as the Blue Eyed Boy. Palate is big, velvety, dense and layered. Big dark fruits, tarr and earth. Extremely long finish. Much more layered, better balanced, more complex and refined that Blue Eyed Boy. This carried it's high alcohol content well. The best over the top fruit bomb I've had.
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Another power Australian Shiraz. Great wine, but overpriced. Had this at a Mollydooker dinner night with the Blue Eyed Boy and Two Left Feet (all 2006), and the Blue Eyed Boy was the big winner. For $20.00 less, the Blue Eyed Boy was fruiter and more flavorful.
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I found this surprisingly approachable. We did a blind Mollydooker tasting at Wine Club (Carninal of Love, Blue Eyed Boy, Two Left Feet). Found the Carnival to be the most approachable of all three. Well balanced and smooth. The high price is the reason I don't rate this higher.
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Opened a bottle last night when some friends were supposed to come over for dinner. As they arrived their baby made a fuss so they headed home. A little upset to open this one so early, but I figured I'd give it a whirl. The fruit in this is just awesome. Lots of cherries, blueberries and chocolate. Very smooth going down. Honestly this is one of my favorites that I've opened recently. I'm glad I have 9 bottles left because I'm holding them for at least 4-5 more years before opening any more. The next morning I had about a glass left in the decanter... It has opened up a bit more with a bit more of the coffee and smokey flavors coming out. I am seriously excited about this wine for a couple years down the road. I see a 98 with a little time.
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It was purer than the Boxer and had more class on the palate. It was hard for it to hide the 16%^ alcohol, however, and that brings the score down. It was given the Mollydooker shake and then decanted for an additional 3 hours.
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More smooth and elegant, if you can say that about this wine :) then the boxer. The nose was dominated by the smoky oak and on the palate an explosion of blueberries with an excellent finish. For the money though really didn't see much difference in this from the boxer not certainly worth the $50 more on the price tag.
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This one's a no-brainer: Carnival of Love for Valentine's Day dinner. I opened the bottle about two hours before dinner (no Mollydooker shake for me, I can't get my head around unscrewing the cap off an $80 wine and treating it like a juice bottle.) Like the last tasting, this one had a nose of berry fruit with a slightly smokey note. On the palate Carnival is delightful: gobs of blueberry, cherry, coffee, and smokey tar lead to a creamy finish that doesn't stop. This is the kind of wine that makes memories.
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What a beauty! Very smooth and silky mouthfeel, but full throttle Aussie fruit: Blueberries, plum, some dark chocolate, vanilla, pepper, massive in your face, but balanced and in "harmony", if someone can use this term with this incredible fruit explosion. The finish is long and smooth, with very nice coffee/mocha notes on the finish. The alcohol is covered perfectly by the waves of fruit.... Really hard to say, but this wine was the best "over the top" fruit bomb I've ever had!
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Wow. This doesn't seem to quite as in bold as the 2005 but it is a big wine that is in balance. Ripe fruit but not over the top. If there is tannin (I know there is) you can't detect it. Long finish. Just a great wine.
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Australian cult wines (FOF): Black color with a thin purple rim. Aromas of dark berries, pepper, roasted oak and i hint of bacon!?. Alot of dark fruit on the palate, becoming more complex on the midpalate with some licories and espresso. Great lenght. Powerfull tannins but of the sweet, mouth watering kind. Lots of everything, very good wine.
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Aussie Wines Offline (Canyon Lodge American Grill - Laguna, CA): More love for the Carnival of Love. Aromas of dark chocolate, brown sugar, and molasses give way to a rich and creamy palate of blackberries, sweet licorice, and vanilla. Long finish. Really wonderful juice! 93-94 points.
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Served for New Years Eve. Comments were "Porty", "Syrupy", "like blueberry pancakes". An "in your face kind of wine". Decanted for 4 hours. Rich, almost sweet, with blueberry compote nose. Extremely polished tannins. Not a wine for food, nice aperitif. Curious as to how this might evolve...
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Bought several bottles of this Wine Spectator top 10 wine, so I thought I'd give it a try early on to see how it compares over the years. Decanted 3 hours before drinking and could still smell the alcohol, so I see what people mean by letting this air a LONG time. Would have benefitted even more with a longer decant. Nonetheless I really enjoyed this wine as it drinks today and see this as a great potential wine down the road. Very complex taste with a great finish.
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A scaled down version of the boxer. I felt this wine was a refined version of the boxer, if that is to be believed. There was nothing over the top chewy or jammy about this wine. I expected a complex array of flavors to attack my palate, but really never happened. It's a good wine, but lack complexity and is one dimensional. The nose is the only highlight.
It's still a nice drinking shiraz, but lacks anything special. We recently drank the 03' Henry's Drive shiraz and it crushes this wine, by being more complex with a better flavor profile and I'm not talking the reserve bottle, just the regular Henry's Drive.
The Carnival of love would be priced right in the mid twenty dollar range. Believe me I'm a big mollydooker, marquis phillips fan. Maybe I am being to harsh a critic after one try. I still have the 05' version to try.
This wine was not decanted which may have done some justice, nor was there any around to reevaluate on day two. Instead, this was popped poured out a small amount, shook the bottle and then poured into glasses. It was open for about one hour before it was emptied between two of us. If you want a more crowd pleasing shiraz to impress your non wine geek friends then go for the marquis phillips 05' shiraz for $11, or the mollydooker boxer for $22.
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Took community advice and gave this about a six hour decant. What I most noted was the lush mouth feel and the long finish with chocalate notes. Dark berries on the palate. Big, big wine.
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Decant for 2 hours. Wine was incredibly thick and rich. Practically wanted to chew each mouth full. A little to peppery in the beginning for my tastes but the finish just kept on going and was quite enjoyable once I got past the start.
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Mollydooker 2006 tasting: Black color. Refined elegant nose with blue berries and raisin, some spices, dark chocolate and i note of licorise. On the palate it has warm fruit, blue berries and plums. Starting out with a good fruit sweetness, leading into the midpalate with licorise, tobaco and chocolate. Great balance, long good length, and soft velvety feel. Not as creamy and smooth as the Enchanted Path, but packing a little more of everything else. This is great now, but it will probably be huge in the future.
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When first opened I thought it would be awesome. The nose was impressive right out of the bottle. I decantered for four hours and enjoyed the wine. Nice dark fruits with chocolate and smooth tannins. After a while I got a bit bored with it. It just didn't really develop into anything spectacular. I think it is over hyped. Good wine, but really nothing special. Certainly not worth the $80 price tag.
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Tasted this against the 2005 Two Hands Bella's Garden. Carnival starts out slugging with both fists. This is a big wine, and to be fair, I decided to taste Carnival shortly after my first taste of the Bella's, which had had an hour to open up. There's nothing subtle going on here: a flood of fruit, with smoke and tar followed by a long finish. I decided to let the bottle sit overnight and stick to the Bella's. After sitting this wine is far more interesting: a much softer but still flavorful drink. I really enjoyed this wine.
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Opened and tasted immediately: Mushroom, plum, cherry, big fruits, big yet soft tannins. Decanted. 2 hour decant: Great color. Still tight on the nose. The initial mushroom note is gone with the appearance of a musty-forest floor with a touch of pepper and bacon. On the palette it’s toasted cedar, vanilla, plum, pretty solid through the middle with a long, complex finish that goes on and on. At this point I’m definitely seeing 96 pts or more. 3 hour decant: Again showing better, more buttery now with a bit more spice. The fruits in this wine just don’t stop. Quite pleasing and still 96+ points. 4 hour decant: Just as elegant as before. I’m quite impressed with the structure of this wine and overall quality. Very good. A very solid 96 points. I am going to have to track down a 2005 to have side by side when I open the next bottle of this in 6 months or so. My rating: 96 pts. - foodandwineblog.com
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Awesome. 7 hour decant paid off. Unbelievably smooth mouth-feel, tons of flavor - overwhelming chocolate. Got greedy and opened a second bottle - didn't decant (and it was a mistake). Big difference.
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huge wine which needs time to for the tannins to mellow and alcohol to mellow...decanted for 2 hours and drank over 2 hours...amazing intensity, revealed dark cherry, caramel, mocha...finish very long but a little hot
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What an incredible Shiraz! A grown and refined version of the Boxer! Needs about ½-1 hour to have its nose open up….though it will still tempt you to try it before then. Nose is complex and powerful…but refined without the heat. The mouth is silk with thick cherry, blueberry, and meaty tones. The tannins are flawless in my opinion. Paired this one with steak…and was not disappointed. Will wait another 9-12 months before opening another one. This one reminded me a lot of the 2005 Bellas Garden.
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Nose was completely closed for the first 45 min or so. Took incredible restraint to not delve into the glass! Unbelievably opaque red. Notes of blueberry, cherry and vanilla. Palate is a rich combination of blueberry, chocolate and a blast of coffee. Silky smooth finish which lasts for days. Unbelievable balance. What a wine. Needs time in the bottle to settle.
40+5+5+18+19+9=96
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Stickies and Shiraz (Farpointe Cellar): A lovely nose of blueberry and cherry, mixed with some milkiness, and eucalyptus. The palate was smooth, with plum, raspberry, pepper, and oak. The finish was a bit hot, but very good.
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At Mollydooker event At Cab's Bistro.looked forward to this wine and was NOT disappointed,big,beautiful charcoal long finish.As good as the 05' Will try 1 bottle a year for the next 12 years.I Love this wine
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Mollydooker Tasting (The Cannery - Newport Beach, CA): This is a really nice wine, one that I think has the ability to surpass the 2005 COL. Gorgeous nose of black raspberry, blueberries, and expresso. Rich and concentrated, this wine offers a lush palate that matches the nose, with the additional accent of cinnamon spice. Mouthcoating texture balanced by firm tannins and acidity. Long, long finish. 93-94 points.
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6/10/2023 - hsunch@yahoo.com Likes this wine: 92 Points
Plenty of dark fruits on the nose and palate. I also taste chocolate and a funk I can't really describe but not unpleasant, and typical in many syrah that I've had. Finish is long. A great bottle of fully evolved syrah/shiraz. Have 1 more bottle I'll probably drink soon, as I don't see this going anywhere better.
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5/19/2023 - stayhappy21 wrote: 91 Points
Drank this at Tunglok Signatures at Central for dinner with my wine mates. Theme of the evening: Wines from 2006 Australia.
Formal notes to follow.
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5/13/2023 - Deryl Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wonderful. I only had one, sorry I didn't buy more. This wine was fully resolved and ready to drink. Loads of fruit on the nose and palate. Delicious.
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2/15/2023 - LARich Likes this wine: 94 Points
Has really smoothes out Delicious and just about perfect right now Will last 8-10 years more but no need to wait
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1/6/2022 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 95 Points
Deep brooding color, fruit nose (how does one explain its youthful taste), great with pasta. Buy/drink/hold
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10/18/2021 - BillyRayValentine wrote: 85 Points
Raisinettes. Waited too long, but not sure if it was only the wine. My tastes may have changed too. Loved this wine 10 years ago.
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6/5/2021 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine: 97 Points
This has softened considerably since its release. It's still very dark and opaque, with powerful shiraz aromas and very full flavors. The balance is excellent and there now is some complexity and even a bit of elegance. Perfect now, but should easily hold another five years.
Ric
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8/14/2020 - smenzies wrote: 94 Points
Decanted and drank over 1hr. Lovely rich nose and palate .. with some port character albeit with the 16% alcohol very balanced. I think you could easily keep for another 3-4 yrs but drinking beautifully now.
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8/6/2020 - Schiffy Likes this wine: 96 Points
Opened last bottle and wow has this wine changed over time...for the better. Still full bodied with blue and blackberry fruit but now with many secondary flavors like cassis, lavender and violet on the finish. Super smooth, bright and fresh...amazing after 14 years in the bottle for a Mollydooker COL.
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6/25/2020 - rexmerlot wrote: 90 Points
Dark purple in color. Notes of blackberry, violet, licorice, and tobacco. Very big wine, hard to believe it was 14 years old.
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3/29/2020 - meatbomb013 Likes this wine: 94 Points
A 2006 Australian Shiraz, 16% ABV, under screw cap...never would have thought that I would have guessed that this was a 2014.
It is showing no signs of its age. Wine is super concentrated, opaque with no edge bricking. I don’t know what tannin structure was 10 years ago, but there are only well integrated now. Black and blue fruits with moderate acidity. At this point the finish is medium to long.
I don’t see any major signs of aging at this point and would expect this to stay in this optimal drinking window for another 10 years.
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3/14/2020 - DrJohn1981 wrote: 99 Points
Enjoyed with Gino and Alicia in 2018, DC
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12/14/2019 - wmccone54 wrote: 95 Points
As others have pointed out, this is a massive wine, even at close to fourteen years! Visually starting to show some signs of age with garnet colors at the edge of a wine that is still a deep, but a dull ruby color. Pronounced and complex aromas and flavors displaying terroir infused rubber, charcoal, dark dirt, smoked meat, black olive, blackberry, blueberry, black cherry, black plum, licorice, dried herbs, coffee and chocolate. Lots and lots of fruit, but IMHO showing no signs of fading. Structural components well in tact with both tannin and acid providing support for further cellaring. Long persistent after taste. Hard to say how long this may cellar, but currently it’s hitting on all cylinders. Outstanding!
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8/27/2019 - vinhonotte Likes this wine: 94 Points
BYOB with friends - Cartoon label theme (The Masses Singapore): A very big power, darkness, lusciousness, blueberry, cassis, coffee, chocolates, cedar, and yet still having cool notes of mint and summer flowers, which gives it an elegant feel. Strangely balanced despite the punch, and so complex. A pretty subtle finish though
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8/8/2019 - Jerker Likes this wine: 94 Points
Massiv wine. After 24 h airing in the bottle (had a test sip that was scarily burning 16% alc. and missing fruit.) it was Fantastic. Deep ruby color, cherries on the nose. The wine is massive. Balanced acidity, alc. and fruits. Full bodied. Flavors include sour cherries, red cherries, blackberries, chocolate, coffee and anise. Ending in butterscotch and lasting for a long time. Should have bought more...
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7/19/2019 - Coachron13 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still super good and drinking like a much younger wine. Has a little eucalyptus but not overwhelming like some can be.
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6/14/2019 - ieatprawnsss Does not like this wine: 87 Points
Too much of everything. As the fruit has bled away over the years, the oak is way too heavy. Tough to get through, well made as it is.
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5/12/2019 - jc510 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Artichokes, roasted jalapeno, vanilla bean, black currents on the nose, full bodied, less than the 05. Good balance, dark ripe extracted,fruit, oak, dark chocolate cacao. Super long finish. Blue berry Cassis after taste.
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5/10/2019 - Papies wrote:
Friday Night with the Beasts (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): This is a proper beast. We decanted but with little impact and even the morning after what was left in the decanter was as fresh as out of the bottle. Big on the ripeness, oak and with a 16.5% alc to go with it. What was unfair to it, and thus the no rating, is we served it after a line up of classics and thus stood out a lot.
This is not for the faint of heart.
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3/31/2019 - dougie Does not like this wine:
Still a monster. Decanted and drank over 5 hours. A bit too much wierdness to really appreciate much.
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3/20/2019 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine: 97 Points
This has softened considerably since its release. It's still very dark and opaque, with powerful shiraz aromas and very full flavors. The balance is excellent and there now is some complexity and even a bit of elegance. Perfect now, but should easily hold another five years.
Ric
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1/13/2019 - spineguy Likes this wine: 90 Points
Needed an hour in the decanter and still only partially opened up. Did not change over the next 2 hours. Although a good quality wine that was well rounded and structurally decent it lacked unique content. Drinking well now.
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10/15/2018 - pilot360 wrote:
Never really opened up, remained compact and dense. Lots of chocolate notes.
Even did the Mollydooker shake!
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8/2/2018 - Psdycp wrote: 92 Points
The nose is not over the top, suitably reserved with a balanced bouquet of licorice, smoked olives, blue berries jam, earthy cinnamon and black pepper with some dark chocolate. Palate is filled with spicy blueberries juice, toasty oak and mineral salt from entry to finish. Rich and silky mid-palate with a touch of lifted acidity onto a deep and powerful finish. Compared to the other vintage, this one is less complex and layered in the palate. But the texture and structure are comparable. Ready to drink now but best to decant for an hour for the wine to settle down before drinking.
Re-tasted in Apr 2019, nose is still reserved with not much change since Aug 2018, it has more leathery nuance. The palate remains dense and penetrating with lifted acidity and tannins towards the end of the palate to balance the sweet fruits. The high alcohol content is noticeable as you draw in air in the mid-palate and in the finish. No change in score.
Re-tasted in Mar 2024. The nose has opened. Good layers of ripe black fruits, sweet spices and fresh tarragon herbs. No change in texture,
mid-palate and finish. To increase the score by 1 pt to 92.
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7/20/2018 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 92 Points
The nose is a 95, but palate far less so. Classic liquid Skittles on the nose, but the palate falls short in that it lacks the smoothness, layers of black, blue and red fruits and overall richness the nose delivers. Only the '05 Carnival has had the palate match the nose. Nonetheless, still a high quality Syrah that is more than a fruit bomb. Love the screw cap.
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5/6/2018 - dbg wrote:
Ripe sweet fruit, oak, a confected cocktail wine. I used to love this style a glass at a time and it’s excellent if that’s what you like, but it’s no longer in my wheelhouse.
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4/11/2018 - Mjladha wrote: 88 Points
Modest complexity. Not as prune juicy as 2003 domaine de la janasse (ugh!) but surprised I ever liked this stuff.
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3/30/2018 - Acohen Likes this wine: 92 Points
Rich and dark with pepper spice and intense blueberry
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3/2/2018 - sinerivali wrote: 93 Points
Showed surprisingly well considering the pre-existing conditions: unknown origin (gift), storage, and Lo & behold it’s a twist-off!! Figured it had some spice , so I paired with a pepperoni pizza. After the initial blow off, the spice and balance paired well. Not too heavy on the alcohol nor tannins - but definitely benefited from decanting.
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1/31/2018 - mjf@ulkner wrote: 88 Points
Blueberry jam, blackberry schnapps. Sweet and sticky- some heat on the finish. This was better day 2 when the cool of the fridge numbed some of its excesses.
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11/13/2017 - Arthur4wine Likes this wine: 94 Points
Perfection in a bottle.
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11/2/2017 - wineguy75 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Spicy and big fruit. Despite 16% alcohol, wine is big enough that alcohol not overly noticeable
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10/4/2017 - smenzies Does not like this wine: 86 Points
I agree with the comments this is an unbalanced alcohol bomb...without any balance...almost turpentine with grape juice. Very disappointing!
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8/16/2017 - ataraxy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very Plummy for a Shiraz, but delicious
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5/29/2017 - Frank Schneider wrote: 93 Points
Nice fat aussie stuff. But not amazing!!!! Missed structure and length.
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3/2/2017 - Peech wrote: 93 Points
decanted for 1 hour before pouring back into bottle for another hour. Lots of coconut butter upon opening. Showed forest notes as well as sweet fruit. Still pretty tannic but very sweet on the palate. The alcohol was evident at 16%
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1/30/2017 - Sozzled-Me wrote: 85 Points
I am inclined to agree with the other more recent CT reviews in that I think this type of wine is better drunk younger when it still masquerades for something that is a little more complex before showing its true colours. The alcohol has now almost fully overwhelmed the fruit and and it has become a husky alchy skeleton of what it might once have been. Nevertheless, not bad value for a wine that still has a lot to offer.
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1/17/2017 - Rezy13 wrote:
Tuesday Night Double Blind $50+ (Alpharetta, GA): Dark core, chocolate, maroon rim; high toned, oak, luxurious, brown sugar, glazed, vanilla, pepper, red pepper, blueberry; texture and sweetness almost overpowering, so weighty, glycerin galore, raspberry and chocolate, very porty, out of place at this tasting; not a fan of this style.
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12/25/2016 - rmanza@comcast.net wrote:
Excellent. Fully integrated. Rich and full bodied. Drinking very well.
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11/22/2016 - benny wrote: 95 Points
95 for sure. Maybe more. A sipping wine. Not port but close. A benchmark Aussie.
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11/3/2016 - Henman Likes this wine: 88 Points
On the nose vibrant blackberries, blueberries and a whiff of vanilla. Full bodied with almost no tannic grip, showing still rather dense ripe dark fruit with a lot of heat pushing through. A bit austere on the finish from the heat. This wine is so over hyped. More like a ruby port with low tannins. It is over the hill already since the heat started to overwhelm the fruit. Maybe it was better when young, I don´t know. But hey, it is much cheaper to buy a ruby or LBV port than this over priced stuff.
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10/31/2016 - RickyT12 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still very heavy.
Vanilla, blueberry plum. I think I prefer these wines younger when the fruit is stronger and the alcohol is covered a bit more.
A little strong alcohol.
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10/25/2016 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still very dark garnet and opaque. Pronounced deep, smoky shiraz aroma. Very viscous and concentrated flavors, full of power but not much elegance. Definite black fruit with charred wood flavors. Bitter bite on the late palate, which carries through to the aftertaste. Massive fruit, no tannin noticeable. Plenty of heat on the aftertaste. Probably at its peak, but should hold several more years.
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6/24/2016 - Winevestor Likes this wine: 91 Points
A good fairly simple wine. Good fruit, light tannin. Drinking well now.
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5/10/2016 - bengti wrote: 92 Points
Pop and poured, this was very smooth - invitingly so - right out of the bottle. Somewhat classic South Australian nose, leather, cassis, chocolate, intense cherries/berries and shrubbery. Down the hatch its got a fresh fruit overtone, sides of citrus. A little viscous, made me wonder if this was due to it being chilled in the fridge too long. Still a winner though.
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4/23/2016 - rockenrude wrote:
Kaboom - cliché Aussie shiraz fruit bomb - if that's your style then you'll be all over this - would almost be worth the QPR if it is - great to drink a wine like this every so often, but not very often....
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4/20/2016 - Kyle_Stewart wrote: 94 Points
I absolutely loved this wine after at least 1 hour decant. It's pure bliss baby. Will pay $75 for the 06 vintage
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12/21/2015 - zuluvino Likes this wine: 97 Points
Stunning in its velvety flavor profile which has developed very well since bottling. After release, I had a bottle just to set a baseline. It was a rough and rugged monster that had no business being anywhere near a glass. I told people it was like eating blackberry jam that had been sitting on a railroad tie on a hot day. It was just so rich, smokey, and bursting with fruit.
I opened the bottle at a family gathering where most of us knew the name, year, and bottle very well. We all just sat silently with our first few sips because this wine was just something that demanded it. We all were just giving it our full attention and it was well deserved. The fruit was still there but everything around it had developed into an elegant woman dressed for a ball instead of teen looking for a punk rave.
I don't usually get into the exercise of describing the flavors because it's been done to death but - suffice to say that this wine is every bit worth the price I paid. It is drinking perfectly right now and should continue for another year or two but if you have some you need to pull the corks on these now as the flavors are so hedonistically perfect that it won't pay to wait any longer. I will be doing exactly that with the remainder of mine.
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8/18/2015 - Winevestor Likes this wine: 92 Points
Not a great QPR but a good biggish Aussi wine. Medium mouth feel, good but not overpowering fruit; tannins well cloaked in the fruit. Medium finish.
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7/10/2015 - drzweigelt wrote: 90 Points
At first things stood quite apart: alcohol, oak (caramel) and dark fruit. Over two hours eucalyptus and dark black berry fruit added up with a bacon lift. Still a fat wine with loads of glycerine and alcohol but not bad.
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7/1/2015 - mfkidd wrote: 94 Points
A fruit explosion. Quick pop and pour.
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6/18/2015 - G_H wrote: 93 Points
This has developed into something much more elegant than I expected, no sign of heat (in contrast to the 2005) and the alcohol is beautifully integrated. This will have another 15 years ahead. Impressive!
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6/14/2015 - TEKinsider wrote: 96 Points
Rich, thick, dark, jammy, blueberry, blackberry, tar, oak, eucalyptus and toast. If you like BIG this is for you!!!
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5/24/2015 - jrobs7777 wrote:
Pleasant surprised. Smokey meat. Smooth and sweet. Vanilla cream cookie. Obviously higher alcohol, which is most prominent on the finish. Two things stood out for me. First, the wine was still young and appears to be aging, but very slowly. With one bottle remaining, I'm going to hold until 2020ish. These wines were not known for aging but this seems to be gaining some character and secondary development. Second, everything has a place. Some people will never like this or this style, and that is fine. There are not many occasions where I'd think to open this kind of wine, and it does not fit my everyday tastes. But on this night, the wine was quite enjoyable. We opened it after dinner and drank it without food in a relaxed setting.
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5/20/2015 - Asmiller wrote: flawed
Opened to pair with a sausage. However, this was a bad bottle....the color had a noticeable brown tint and nose was off. Could not drink it...poured it out.
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4/18/2015 - Jeffrey Silver Does not like this wine: 89 Points
Truly not my style of wine. I sold most of my stock but decide to open 1 of the last 2 I have. I find this wine to be hugely over extracted. Lots of fruit but with super high alcohol you can't taste it. Yes I may be in the minority but simply don't care for this wine.
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4/16/2015 - SeattlePaul Likes this wine: 91 Points
Was kind of tight and overly smoky the first night. The next day it was much more approachable and quite delicious. Turns out I forget to gas the bottle and it was open about 14 hours. Happy accident.
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4/12/2015 - urban_dk wrote: 88 Points
Big, bold and fully resolved at this point. Oodles of blueberry/blackberry flavor to support the 16% ABV, with chocolate notes to finish. For all of its hedonistic pleasures, however, it remains a simple fruit-bomb of a wine. For the price, one would expect some complexity. Several Aussie/Cali wines can deliver this bombastic, one-dimensional taste profile at a fraction of the cost.
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4/10/2015 - Millennial Drinkers Likes this wine: 94 Points
S&E Wine Society - Northern Rhone Style (S&E): Seems very young, lots of caramel
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4/10/2015 - cab blends Likes this wine: 94 Points
S&E Wine Club - Blind Northern Rhone/Syrah Tasting Dinner (Our home): A muted hint of caramel in the nose. Smells young and lively. Full bodied with a lot of life left.
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3/20/2015 - jskuek Likes this wine: 93 Points
Powerful, full body, coffee, dark Choc. Balance and good. Long finish.
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3/3/2015 - gew71walsh wrote: 92 Points
Deep purple in color. A powerful wine that evolves during the evening . Drank last two bottles-this has significant alcohol, but does not come across as hot. Well balanced, although heavier than a traditional Aussie Shiraz. Lingering finish.
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3/1/2015 - RhoneG Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rich, smooth, holding up well. Blueberry, chocolate, plum, blackberry, thick and almost sweet. Not for everyone, but great in its own style.
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2/21/2015 - Quaffing in Colorado Likes this wine: 91 Points
Our first Carnival of Love. Delicious, but it's about what we expected (and hoped for) after drinking numerous bottles of The Boxer over the last half dozen years. This is definitely more nuanced, refined, and less of a jammy, fruit bomb than The Boxer; however, it's not complex and probably doesn't warrant the >$80 price tag. The finish lingers lovingly into the back of the throat for over a minute. There's a lot of sediment, so be sure to filter/decant.
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2/15/2015 - Rollerball wrote: 91 Points
A lovely creme de cassis. The densest crushed BlackBerry. But at a distance somehow. Or maybe it's a combination of too intense and not quite friendly enough to open up to. So much softer and better with a couple hours of air. 91-92
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2/14/2015 - Strack Vino Likes this wine:
Phenomenal..
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1/19/2015 - lee.reiswig Likes this wine: 94 Points
Shook and opened an hour before pour. Wonderfully balanced, concentrated black fruits. Improved over dinner in the glass and bottle.
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1/16/2015 - stayhappy21 wrote: 92 Points
Tasted this at the 2006 Australian Shiraz Barossa Valley vs McLaren Vale tasting at Extra Space Boon Keng last night. This wine was pitted against the 2006 Elderton Shiraz Single Vineyard Command.
Wine is more balanced and integrated than the Command. Sweet, with refined notes of berries and plums. An advanced wine that is ahead of its time.
A likable wine, with a highly attractive and colourful label to match.
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12/13/2014 - pmarlo wrote: 94 Points
Not as fruit forward as my first bottle, which was profoundly fruit driven, but very good nonetheless. More nuanced.
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12/7/2014 - Ex-Ray Likes this wine: 96 Points
Still opaque inky purple. Very pronounced shiraz aromas of tar, earth, leather, some oak, showing some complexity. Coarse, viscous texture. Very full-bodied, typical of Sarah Marquis, mouth-coating, with the typical "bite" on the back of the tongue after 15 seconds or so. Big, hot lingering aftertaste, keeps going on. This is their typical huge style, not for everyone, but we like it with hearty meats and stews. Still has years to go but very enjoyable now.
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11/18/2014 - lvjohn Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wow! Maybe the critics were onto something with this wine. Although it still smelled and tasted of alcohol, it's other attributes shown. We decanted this bottle to remove the solids and help it open up. The wine is a very dark purple and almost opaque. It is packed with the taste of rich dark cherries and other dark fruits.
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11/15/2014 - Vinolsen wrote:
Vinsmagning i sommerhus 2013 bo etc
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11/14/2014 - Matt T wrote: 93 Points
Huge wine with vanilla, tar, and lots of oak and alcohol. Manages to hold together. Very enjoyable and a knock your socks off wine, but not great qpr.
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10/4/2014 - G_H Likes this wine: 93 Points
Nearly amarone like with the corvina notes, very sweet, seems very mature already. Nice to drink now but I have absolutely no idea how this will keep. It might develop awesomely but it might as well fall apart.
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8/14/2014 - Didman wrote: 96 Points
Wow! Great wine. Deep purple with intense fruit to match, yet soft tannins making it just a delight to drink. Aroma is out of this world. Lots of sediment requires decanting.
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7/12/2014 - budh wrote:
Boy this is definitely not my style. It's big, oaky, and high alcohol (16%). No typical Syrah complexity of leather, earth, meat, etc - just prunes, bramble, and smokey oak. The mouth gets numb from the alcohol after a few sips, and it does smooth out to a rich, luscious, very full bodied wine. It could pass for a Port or an Amarone. I guess that's the attraction. Silly me - I was expecting a Shiraz....
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4/12/2014 - mtrevithick Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very inky and heavy.
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2/22/2014 - dougie Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted for an hour. Smoothed out over 4 hours. Awesome flavors. 'I love this once in a while' type of wine. Wait a few years for the last one.
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1/24/2014 - lvjohn Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very rich, intense, and alcoholic Shiraz. Deep in color but I don't recall anything special on the nose. Much, much better now then when first I tasted it, but I still don't like all the alcohol.
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1/19/2014 - LARich wrote: 94 Points
Big brash bold blackberry Barossa. What's not to love?
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12/9/2013 - napasoutherner Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wonderful Wine. Had in comparison with an Enchanted Path (same year). This wine clearly outpaced the EP with strong notes of chocolate, dark berry, and an overall silky finish. I highly recommend this wine as it's a better value than the Velvet Glove. However, this a big, fruit forward bomb of a wine. You've got to like MD wines to enjoy this.
The wine looks Inky colored. The legs are Slow.
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12/2/2013 - brettlaurvick wrote: 89 Points
A little disappointed that this hadn't evolved. Lost some of that syrupy texture it used to have, but otherwise uneventful. It was fairly smooth and balanced.
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11/29/2013 - SeattlePaul Likes this wine: 93 Points
Just fabulous. Fruit. Spice. Oak. Mmm. Doing fine, no end in sight.
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11/14/2013 - rexmerlot wrote: 95 Points
Wow what an interesting wine. Clear dark purple in color. Clean nose of black fruit, spice, and licorice. Dry, med acidity, med+ body, solid tannins, licorice, blackberry, tobacco, and spice on palate. Med+ finish. Great wine
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10/26/2013 - alohashirt Likes this wine: 95 Points
This was exactly what I expected and hoped it would be. An intoxicating, heady fruit nose, leading to a soft, smooth caramel, vanilla, blackcurrant confection. It's unashamedly sweet, good acid, really doesn't feel like a seven year old wine. It has an amazingly long finish, relatively soft tannins.
I enjoyed this more than the 2009 and 2010 Blue Eyed Boy, but it's four years older. I wonder how it would compare to a 2006 Blue Eyed Boy?
It's a delicious wine but I'm undecided about the value proposition. I paid $90 at a local store and I see that I could have paid $160 at another better known wine store. For me, that's an enormous amount of money for a bottle of wine. Is it worth it?
I don't know.
I do know that my next step will be to try a $260 Mollydooker Velvet Glove. My father would turn in his grave!
Life would be less magic without Mollydooker
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10/26/2013 - Ajtrader wrote: 96 Points
Outstanding. A small decant helps but it's not necessary.
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10/22/2013 - gesusser wrote: 93 Points
long decant needed ; lots of sediment in this dark blood red shiraz; pricey but an excellent well rounded & hearty aussie shiraz; excellent with grilled lamb loin chops, ready to drink now
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9/27/2013 - vanpe003 wrote:
I'm just not as enthusiastic about this style of wine as I was several years ago. That said: for what it is, it seems to be holding up nicely. While its a full throttle wine, it doesn't present at all old, tired or muddied. In fact, I couldn't have predicted this was a 7 year old wine. Big dense extracted fruit. Fairly linear on the palate through the finish - not a lot of nuance. Had it with spiced up chilli, which I think is probably as good a pairing as anything with this (with the possible exception of BBQ ribs). I'd give it 90-92 points. Those still into the style would probably score this higher.
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9/15/2013 - Matt T wrote: 92 Points
Huge, jammy, mocha-almond fudgelike with just enough acid to make this something to drink rather than spread on your toast. Drink now.
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8/24/2013 - jwkagel Likes this wine: 94 Points
This aged very well- delicious. Dark inky purple with velvety texture. Deep berry flavor with some vanilla.
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7/21/2013 - SeattlePaul wrote: 94 Points
Needed at least an hour after popping to really open up. Early showing was full of oak, tobacco, and enormous fruit. This all settled into a beautiful balanced well drinking syrah... just delicious, and well paired with spicy dishes. Glad I have more of this.
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6/20/2013 - GTFreek wrote:
Sex on a stick. Drinking great.
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5/12/2013 - RhoneG Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very rich and smooth. Blackberry and blueberry and chocolate. Deep dark purple. A lot of fruit which is typical for Mollydooker, but it felt balanced. Seems like it’s in a good spot and probably still has years to go.
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3/22/2013 - fingers wrote:
Fourth and final bottle for me. Tasted one glass on first night, re-screwed and followed over the course of day 2. Very little has changed from my last note two years ago, including the color. Still fully opaque purple. Aroma seems a tiny bit more floral than before and has let go of some of the brambly Crackerjack. Greater integration in the profile now, also helped by the extended aeration today. Silky smooth and more complex than the Boxers, Blue-eyed-boys, and Enchanted Paths that I've tried. Still a 93-94 pt in my book
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2/9/2013 - fcarrano wrote: 93 Points
Hyper aerated
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2/9/2013 - fcarrano wrote: 93 Points
Hyper-aerated and much improved from last bottle. Less heat from the alcohol.
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1/19/2013 - Rollerball wrote: 93 Points
Blackberry and sweet coconut. Beautifully penetrating. This kicked off with fireworks of fruit that had been holed up too long. Then for an hour or two the alcohol actually overpowered that fruit. Finally it settled down and gained some relative balance in hours three and four.
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12/31/2012 - Bcw1989 wrote: 96 Points
This is some of the best tasting Shiraz I have ever had! On the same level as Penfold's Grange. Long lasting finish and definitely not enough in one bottle!
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12/27/2012 - lvjohn Does not like this wine: 84 Points
This stuff is terribly high in alcohol and it doesn't disguise it well. This is my second tasting of this miserable excuse of a wine and it did not improve. What fruit I could taste seemed simple but pleasant with a crushed cherry strawberry flavors. I cannot believe this is the same wine that the wine press tasted and gave high scores.
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12/23/2012 - Winevestor wrote: 92 Points
A good Aussi big Shiraz, but way oversold by JM. Has a good sized nose, with tobacco and big red fruit. However fairly simple. A little hot. Middle length finish
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12/23/2012 - rwstorer wrote: 91 Points
- Violet color and aromas of raspberry, strawberry, cherry, strawberry jam and vanilla. It's unbalanced and has flavours of cherry and oak with a full body. Juicy texture with a medium finish - How can you not love this wine?!
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12/17/2012 - tom_wine wrote: 85 Points
Dense, alcoholic fruit bomb. Jammy raspberry and strawberry flavors, a dash of anise and black pepper. I could lay this on toast.
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11/29/2012 - benny wrote: 95 Points
The very best from down under...but 16% alcohol!!
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10/28/2012 - Wali183 wrote: 94 Points
Tiefdunkel. Berauschend. Dunkle Früchte, schoko, Lakritz, am Gaumen seidig und kühl, hoher Alkohol. Mundfüllend. Beeindruckend.
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10/21/2012 - tom_wine wrote: 85 Points
Still jammy fruit, high alcohol and not a lot of complexity. drink up.
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10/10/2012 - GaryHOhio wrote: 91 Points
Nice Aussie Shiraz. Think Velvet Glove junior. 2 hour decant, nice nose of berries and lots of HEAT on the initial taste. Nice finish but not too much complexity on the palate. Good Aussie Shiraz, not sure I could get to the WS 95 though. Suggest a 4 hour decant on this one.
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9/23/2012 - ptelgenh wrote: 88 Points
Dense baked fruit. Sweet with noticeable alcohol
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8/24/2012 - Marc S wrote: 88 Points
This wine is ready to drink. Dark ruby in color. Fruit foward.
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8/1/2012 - Pour Boy wrote: 95 Points
Dense, fruit forward and decadent Shiraz from Mollydooker. Needed about 20 minutes to open up. Perfect match for a French cut rack of lamb from -- you guessed it -- Australia. Long-lasting tart yet flavorful finish that went on for nearly two minutes. When you're in the mood for a powerful Shiraz, these guys know how to bring it.
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5/27/2012 - hammie1234 wrote: 93 Points
This one was still a gem! It was rich, blueberry-heavy, and still thick and creamy. It was lovely.
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4/13/2012 - Marc S wrote: 90 Points
- Brick color. It's balanced and has flavours of blackberry, black currant and prune with a full body. Juicy texture with a long finish - Please read my previous notes.
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4/13/2012 - Marc S wrote: 90 Points
- Brick color with medium forming legs and aromas of blackberry. It's balanced and has flavours of prune with a medium/full body. Narrow texture with a medium finish - Dark brick red in color. Almost like syrup in consistency. A great Shiraz.
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3/30/2012 - Winevestor wrote: 90 Points
Blueberry nose - very juice oriented. Hot in the mouth, heavy and not integrated. I've had the 2005 and it was a lot better. Its not the screwtop right?
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2/18/2012 - boreddoughboy wrote: 92 Points
Look Out! Decanted for over an hour and chilled yet she could use more. Really liked it but had trouble loving it becasue I couldn"t get over its hot attitude. So smooth through the mid palate and enjoyable.. Only problem is that it tends to overwhelm the tastebuds with the heavy alcohol atitude.
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2/14/2012 - Cobbster wrote: 94 Points
Valentine's Day redux: over 5 years now I've tasted this vintage and it hasn't changed much. Smokey black fruit with a creamy finish, but it does take some time to open up. If you like this flavor profile (as the reviews attest, it's a polarizing wine) you'll not be disappointed. This is one of the many reasons I love Valentines day.
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1/25/2012 - atwkite wrote: 95 Points
Deep, rich, brooding black fruit on the nose with supper smooth entry and mid palate. Thankfully lacks the tartness of many high end Aussie Shiraz. Finish is wonderfully long and balanced with a bit of alcohol and acidity coming through and inducing your next sip. WOTN and just dominated the other bottles on the table, was the last opened and first to go! Can't wait to try the 05 again, as I have felt it was even better than the o6!
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1/24/2012 - RJMerlot wrote: 92 Points
New World Wonder -- Not for Old World lovers but Fabulous for what it is, rich and lush with just enough road tar and gravel to make it a worthy experience
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1/10/2012 - drycab wrote:
Continuing the trend of sophistication that was tasted the last time. Still got a little tiresome by the end of the bottle.
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12/16/2011 - A&C wrote: 91 Points
A spouse almost always has some trepidation going to his wife's work place holiday party, so to ease the unease, I thought I would sneak in this little beauty to the holiday pot luck. The art in tonight's exercise is that while this wine is a very big and wonderfully serious wine, it is disguised with --- yes --- a screw cap. As a result, I hid the bottle in the back, and my spouse and I were able to enjoy the wine without fear that someone else might discover and abscond with the bounty. This wine is still young, but it is showing quite well now. Big Aussie fruit. No rough edges. Ripe. Rich. A classic Aussie fruit bomb, but with that smoothness that is signature Mollydooker. Thanks Sparky!!
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12/4/2011 - Marc S wrote: 89 Points
- Brick color with slow forming legs. It's balanced and has flavours of blackberry, black currant and burnt toast with a full body. Satin-Like texture with a medium finish - Dark ink in color. Loaded with blackberries among other fruit. Big alcohol. Tannins are still there but not what they used to be. A big bold wine.
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11/28/2011 - signotim wrote: 86 Points
Mixed berry-vanilla creamsicle. Tasty but too sweet and creamy for my palate. somewhat better on night 3.
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11/25/2011 - jtinto wrote: 85 Points
This is a baby port. Hard to drink this any other way.
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11/1/2011 - Xerot wrote: 93 Points
Open early and allow to sit, very smooth
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10/6/2011 - pilot360 wrote:
Did someone get the plates on that car that just hit me! Drank over 3 hours. Nose is massive, powerful, glad to see a good herbal scent, brown sugar, good fruit of blueberries. Had no subtlety, or fines. Palate was milk chocolate, some thyme and heavy dark fruitiness. Finish was long and tongue coating. I did enjoy this, but could not imaging drinking this on a regular basis.
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9/24/2011 - alittle wrote: 86 Points
Screw top bottle, opened and decanted for 1.5 hours, consumed over the following three hours. Very heavy sediment noted. Dark inky purple in the glass, with a full body. Incredibly strong nose of blackberries, creme de cassis, caramelized sugar, with a slight soil and herbal note. Never has creme de cassis been more fitting as a descriptor, as this was practically a liqueur. There was also a lot of heat on the nose that never dissipated. On the palate was dark fruits, caramel, spice and quite a bit of heat. This heavily concentrated beast has low acidity, low tannin and is anything but elegant. While sharing this with my significant other, she stated "I think I've had $20 wines that taste like this" and I'd be apt to agree. Well, I mean, it may take a splash of vodka, but it'll be pretty close.
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9/20/2011 - sjdcellar wrote: 98 Points
one of our favorites of the year. this was fantastic and needed several hours of decanting. huge nose and a little hot with 16% alcohol but fantastic
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8/28/2011 - BSpdx wrote: 93 Points
OK, there is no denying that this is pretty much a baby port, but man is it good. The fruit is so ripe, rich and sweet that you can't stop taking sip after sip. Delicious down to its core, with a wonderfully aromatic nose and a long, long finish. Purely hedonistic and tasty. Would recommend.
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7/22/2011 - ews3 wrote: 91 Points
Blind White Throwdown (Roberts House, Philadelphia PA): for better or worse, this is what it is -- slutty concentration of fruit flavors and alcohol. could you make a mixed drink that tastes like this? yes. but it still tastes good. this felt a little less concentrated than the previous COLs ive had and was not up to par with the 05.
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7/22/2011 - jrobs7777 wrote: 89 Points
Blind White Throwdown (Our House (2033 Brandywine St., Philadelphia)): In the 3 plus years since I last had this, my tastes have dramatically changed. That is not to say that my notes have changed -- they really have not. It just that what I appreciate and enjoy in wine has changed a lot. Over the top oak. The oak dominates. Port-like character on the nose blended with the oak. Cherry and blueberry. Very dense on the palate. Chocolate and cream but way too much oak at this stage, and not enough structure. The structure really is what bothers me. This is "tasty" in that it tastes good and is enjoyable to drink under the right circumstances. But from a "wine" standpoint, I have a hard time with it. It is an over the top, concentrated massive wine, and those have a place in the wine world, I suppose.
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7/9/2011 - drycab wrote:
Still a bunch of fruit but a touch more refined and nuanced. Not a sledge hammer anymore.
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6/8/2011 - Ex-Ray wrote: 96 Points
Pronounced complex cassis-earthy aroma. Full-bodied flavors, plenty of fruit. Very balanced; moderate tannin but well integrated under the fruit. High alcohol back of the tongue and also on the aftertaste. Excellent and ready, but should easily last several more years.
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4/22/2011 - A&C wrote: 95 Points
WOTN: big, rich, layered, with a great underlying fruit profile. The only thing keeping this wine from rating higher is the high alcohol.
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4/20/2011 - Schiffy Likes this wine: 94 Points
Monster wine. Loads of blackberry, blueberry and any other berry you can imagine...this is a total fruit bomb. However, despite how big this wine actually drinks, it still has good structure with chewy tannins nicely integrated into the fruit, particularly after an hour being decanted. This is one of the best Aussie Shiraz I have had in a long time.
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4/8/2011 - last chance wrote: 91 Points
This had loads of great fruit, but there was some heat showing on this as well. I've been a big fan of the 05 COL, but the 06 isn't nearly as fun to drink.
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4/2/2011 - markjahnke wrote: 92 Points
Over he top, but delicious fruitbomb. Formal notes to come. Only the 2nd 'Dooker that I can honestly say I appreciated!
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4/1/2011 - Marc S wrote: 88 Points
Wonderful Shiraz. Loaded with fruit. Blueberries, strawberries. I think this is a wine that you either love or hate.
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3/20/2011 - facchair wrote: 90 Points
Lots of smoke and dark fruits. Black and green pepper, better an hour after opening.
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2/28/2011 - rwstorer wrote: 92 Points
Popped and poured. To be fair, we drank this with smoked albacore, grilled halibut and kung pao octopus. Lots of blueberry flavor, tobacco and spice. Multi dimensional and interesting flavors lasting for well over 30 seconds on the palate. Still, I feel less and less enthusiastic about this wine.
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2/20/2011 - Marc S wrote: 85 Points
Always a good bottle of wine. Loads of fruit to say the least. Lots of blueberries.
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2/14/2011 - acheng wrote: 90 Points
There is no question about the origin of this wine with the requisite heavy and weighty body. After some airing, aroma of smoke, meat and chocolate with good dose of dark berry envelops the senses. While there is nothing new here, all the components part do gel together rather than being disjointed or one dimensional. I have stopped buying Barossa shiraz but I am not disappointed by this McLaren Vale.
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2/14/2011 - Cobbster wrote: 94 Points
Valentine's Day again? Already? This is the fourth V.D. that I've popped open a Carnival and it is still an explosion of of smoldering, smokey fruit. This bottle was not as layered or nuanced as previous bottles and the finish not as creamy. The blueberry/cherry flavors were buried under the smokeyness and no amount of air let them emerge. It's probably an awkward phase, or maybe just this bottle. Two more bottles left, so the extended tasting continues next year. Same time, same place.
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2/11/2011 - sonofstone wrote: 91 Points
Rich Chocolate and dark berries were noted on the initial pour. Hints of mocha appeared after an hour.
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1/10/2011 - fingers wrote: 94 Points
Unscrewed and decanted about an hour. Black plum color, fully opaque with slow legs and very heavy sediment. Profound cracker jack, evergreen shrub, bacon, vanilla, and fresh cut flower aromas. Palate is creamy smooth and completely coats the mouth with unctuous ripe fruit. There is a very bold and proper acidity level carrying the myriad of nice flavors but overall, it is not fully harmonious or seamless, yet. Obviously a controversial wine that although isn't perfect, is worth the price imho. I did adjust my initial score down from a 95 because it lost a good share of bouquet after 8 hours or so open. I preferred the balance in this bottle over the one I had 2 years ago so I'm banking that it will show even better integration with more time. 5+13+18+8 = 94
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11/25/2010 - MoTheMan wrote: 92 Points
Molly Dooker is one of my favorite Aussie labels, and among the top of my list is the Carniva of Love, which I've had in 2005 and 2006 bottlings before.
My experience was very consistent with many of the other tasters here. Bright red & berry fruits on the nose with an undertone of vanilla and a hint of spice. Still hot & alcoholic though.
Luscious red with some dark berry flavors shined through on the palate, but again HOT & alcoholic, and evolved only a little over time. Did NOT show a ot of complesity as I have come to expect from this wine.
Have had it before, and not sure if it's going through a late sleeper phase.
Has potential to age a good long time and I think it's potential is in the 95+ rating category . . . but on Thanksgiving, it came up short! Worth only 92.
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11/19/2010 - TMacpherson Does not like this wine: 85 Points
We were surprised by how monolithic this wine presented. The nose was deep black fruit with some vanilla but was quickly lost by a wave of alcoholic heat. First taste was pretty much the same as the last -- super ripe fruit with never a twist or layer of other flavors. Then finished with another hit of the alcoholic heat. This bottle reminded me of a goshawk that goes right at the prey -- no maneuvering, no beautiful movement -- just a straight attack that gets the job done. Overall, a disappointing bottle of wine for all the wine descriptions and price.
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11/12/2010 - prism wrote: 94 Points
This followed a 2004 Glaetzer Bishop, both Aussie shirazes paired with lamb tagine. Ran the Carnival through a Vinturi and decanted for a couple of hours. The Carnival, in contrast to The Bishop, showed redder fruits, as opposed to black and blue, and brighter notes (I'm borrowing from observations by the wine's presenter) with more complexity and a structure built for the long haul. Wonderful structure, but still evolving: I think this could easily go a decade or more, but what a treat it was to drink now. Outstanding now; will almost certainly improve with more cellar time.
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10/25/2010 - sterin wrote: 93 Points
This was my first Carnival of Love, so I expected more of a new world fruit bomb, but it had old world notes. It was very good, but not as good as the Parker / Spectator reviews in my opinion.
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10/10/2010 - Marc S wrote: 89 Points
Excellent bottle of wine. As previously noted, loads of fruit. remember to shake this bottle before drinking.
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9/19/2010 - 3marinerfans wrote: 93 Points
Decanted over 3 hours which was necessary to mellow it out. Very smooth and integrated. As evolved got spicy, smooth finish. Not as heavy or a fruit bomb as others have stated and will get even better over time. Will open next bottle in 5 years. Outstanding.
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9/10/2010 - King JR wrote: 94 Points
ALWAYS a party favorite! So big, so wonderful - never disappoints! Monstrous wine, still possessing all the power that it has had for the last few years. Good now, could last years (seems like forever!). This has to be the best value Shiraz (except, of course for the Boxer!).
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7/28/2010 - schway wrote: 90 Points
Very tasty. But lacking in structure and terroir. Lots of primary berry fruit, along with spices, licorice, flowers, mint and sweet mellow wood.
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7/24/2010 - IAMVLAD wrote: 92 Points
drunk blind with same vintage boxer and blue eyed boy. barely edged out boxer. boy trailed badly.
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6/22/2010 - dannyk8232 wrote: 95 Points
Brought to a restaurant. Double decanted an hour before. it needed another 2 hours in the decanted on the table to open up and show its stuff. A big ripe monster. Loved it, although this is not my style anymore at all.
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6/20/2010 - Marc S wrote: 90 Points
Wonderful bottle of Shiraz. Loads of fruit with many fifferent berries. A real mouthful of juice. Had at dinner with Gary and Judy.
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5/8/2010 - bambam wrote: 93 Points
No surprise here. Lots of fruit but it maintains some class. Dark berries, vanilla oak, anise. Just like a good corny comedy. It works and makes you smile. Popped and poured and it seemed fine.
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5/5/2010 - drycab wrote:
popped, poured out 4 oz. into decanter, recapped and did the shake, decanted for 1 1/2 hours. Needs more time in both the bottle and decanter to integrate better. By the end of the decanter, the yeasty taste/smell blew off, the fruit was purer but it lacked complexity that I'm expecting will come in a year or two now.
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5/1/2010 - Clarkmeister wrote: 89 Points
Wine Spectator's Grand Tour Las Vegas 2010 (The Venetian): Mellowed out since the last time I had one of these IIRC. Still a mega flabby fruit bomb. Pleased some in the group.
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4/25/2010 - shadow wrote: 94 Points
This wine is finally calming down, still has a fruity nose, but less than it was, still got fruit, but less than before, its getting ready for its mature phase, will wait a couple years before revisiting.
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4/23/2010 - dbg wrote:
Dark purple to rim. Strong nose of blackberries, blueberries, moderate vanillin oak. Very full-bodied, all about up-front bright ripe dark and red fruits but good balancing acidity, not much complexity, good finish, not hot or overly alcoholic. Outstanding. Preferred by most to the SQN Labels, though some preferred the Labels with the food. Labels was my favorite.
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4/16/2010 - Marc S wrote: 90 Points
This wine really impresses me for some reason. Loaded with fruit. All kinds of berries. You may find this hard to believe, but you must shake the bottle of wife before you are ready to pour. Try this and you will see quite a difference. Has some spice to be noted as well.
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4/14/2010 - phenricsson wrote: 94 Points
delicious wine. Not as big as most people say it is. It is well balanced and has quite a lot of complexity on it. We always like it.
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4/9/2010 - petrusncoke wrote: 90 Points
My 100th note! So, I found myself with a glass of this in my hands and boy I was very excited to try this very controversial wine. I saw this as another chance to settle some thoughts on international-style wine, and this to me seems a watershed moment in that I now must indeed be a confirmed traditionalist. But anyway, I brought my nose to the wine where there were strong aromas of new oak, both in the form of toast and vanilla, along with sur-mature blueberry fruit, and perhaps wood smoke. On the palate are waves of massive and layered oak-slathered, superripe blueberry fruit, and really not much else. Certainly well-made, with good, sweet tannins, I took this wine to be unbalanced: the wine's lack of freshnening acidity and alcoholic finish hardly betray harmony --and I mean for a modern-styled wine. I've read the reviews of these wines, and the nuances described were just not present; I must admit that I think that I haven't seen the best this, and really other wines of this style have to offer. 90?
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3/28/2010 - mjf@ulkner wrote: 90 Points
Has improved in the year and half since last tasted. Still an aperitif style wine, but the alcohol isn't quite as noticeable. Served this to some fans of "cheap" Aussie shiraz, and they definitely appreciated the upgrade in quality. This rating reflects the wine's character within the category of Australian shiraz, it is above average in comparison to its peers.
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2/28/2010 - 911SCracer wrote: 92 Points
Big wine. Not my style preference but well made. Long finish. Better on day two.
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2/20/2010 - duffer8008 wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for 3.5 hours, and it just started to open up. I don't know if I can add much to the notes already listed, but I did like this. This has what I can only describe as an "opulent deliciousness" not for everyone, but I can still roll with a massive fruit bomb every now and again.
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2/14/2010 - Cobbster wrote: 97 Points
Dittos from last year: Another Valentine's Day, another Carnival. It hasn't changed notably from last year, still a layer cake of blueberry and cherry fruit drizzled with smokey coffee cream. Mollydooker doesn't recommend the 'shake' for wines more than two years old; we're well past that point. That said, it does take some air to open up this bruiser.
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2/13/2010 - BSteffes wrote: 95 Points
Wine has matured into a beauty. Last tried 2 1/2 years ago. It was fantastic then...but has an added amount of depth and maturity now. The heat was not noticable on the nose or palate. It is definetly a fruit bomb...and in that style...it excels. Craves a seared steak on the grill. Can't wait to open the next one!
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1/9/2010 - Marc S wrote: 90 Points
You must shake this wine before you drink it. Loaded with friut. Wonderful bottle of wine that is approachable now.
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1/1/2010 - rwstorer wrote: 92 Points
Dark purple color with nose of spice and red fruit. Lots of extraction. Flavors of red fruits, leather, cedar, and spices. a bit of heat at the finish. Nice integration and balance.
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12/23/2009 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: 92 Points
Color: Dark purple
Nose: Subtle with spice, pepper, plum
Taste: Pepper, spice, plum, oak Tannins are medium
Finish: Medium with pepper, spice, plum, oak
Evaluation: It improved with 4 hours decanting but did not measure up to the Shafer Relentless Syrah. 92 points
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11/14/2009 - pmarlo wrote: 94 Points
Really decent shiraz. full bodies, deeply colored. Held up the second day. Recommended highly, one of the better Aussie shriaz I have had. Will go about another 5 years at least.
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10/23/2009 - hifiwine wrote: 90 Points
not even close to the previous vintage
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10/17/2009 - bundydavis wrote: 93 Points
Drinking a lot better since the last time I tried this. Decanted for 2 hours and was busting with fruit. Big wine and not for some who don't like this style. Went beautifully with the rib eye.
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8/26/2009 - Dickdoc49 wrote: 95 Points
a balanced fruit bomb. starting to integrate nicely still has lots of life left
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6/22/2009 - bistro wrote: 85 Points
Disappointing. Opened for father's day, did 2 MD shakes. Didn't really get that much fruit, definitely tasted alot of alcohol and glycerin. Subsequent pours showed signs of opening up,but it never quite got to where I wanted it to go. Definitely too young, but might not be as much there as we'd all like.
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5/24/2009 - ptelgenh wrote: 93 Points
Decanted for 90 minutes. Dense and rich baked cherries, blueberries and mint. Anise mid palate. A little heat but well integrated. Very long finish. Wait 2 more years for next bottle
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4/24/2009 - RJurman wrote: 85 Points
Definitely not my style. Cherry cough medicine with high alcohol content. Decanted for 3 hours and did the Mollydooker shake. 97 points? $80.00? Not much I could say here. Hugh amounts of sediment and what appeared to be stems on the bottom.
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4/11/2009 - A&C wrote:
Consumed late in the evening by a large group, so my review is semi-accurate. Had a lot of alcohol, and seemed a tad over-ripe and young. Wait.
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4/5/2009 - numen wrote: 86 Points
Performed the Mollydooker shake, and left to decant for 3 hours (almost certainly not enough). Consumed with Roquefort, Valdeon, and Epoisses. Valdeon was an excellent match. This is a highly alcoholic wine, and it makes no pretense at being anything else. It dominates the nose and palate. A lovely dark red, we noticed red fruit and maybe some licorice aromas, and slight chocolate over time. Taste was very alcoholic and required time to mellow to be drinkable. With cheese it was excellent, but it definitely needs time to get oxygen to blow off and something to cut the heat. Tannins were virtually unnoticed. Enjoyed, but hard to drink a lot of it, and not sure that it's worth the price of admission.
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3/28/2009 - Vinacull wrote: 92 Points
I agree with other reviewers that this has not changed much since last year. From 58 cellar temp, MD twice-shake followed by respi-aerate to decanter. Initial taste was dense with chocolate covered cherries with vanilla creme. Returning three hours later, the candy store smell receded and aromas of coffee and spices were joined the sweet jam of cherries and raspberry, which stayed essentially the same of the next 4 hours of sipping. Once again I was reminded of the full-bodied velvety mouthfeel bursting with premium sweet fruit, and this by far is the best feature of this wine. Beyond that, the bouquet was less explosive, the finish was relatively shorter, and mild heat was noticeable in the finish compared to my note of 6/19/08, in addition to the fact that there is relatively little complexity on the palate. Delicious? Unquestionably lip-smacking yummy. Deserving of WS95 (and #8 of top 100) as well as RP97? Now that's hard to swallow. Worth the $85 wallet sting? No, and ouch. Having had many (maybe too many) Mollydookers over the last three years, it seems there is nothing in the profile that warrants waiting and over time they lose the explosive vibrancy that helps make them great. We'll drink our last COL ('05) by end of the year.
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3/24/2009 - David S wrote:
as always - great wine - not sure it is worth the price
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3/3/2009 - wpiers wrote: 92 Points
Delicious but still fairly tight.
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2/14/2009 - snic_124 wrote: 98 Points
Beautiful!!!
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2/14/2009 - Cobbster wrote: 97 Points
Another Valentine's Day, another Carnival. It hasn't changed notably from last year, still a layer cake of blueberry and cherry fruit drizzled with smokey coffee cream.
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2/1/2009 - sbeeks wrote: 95 Points
Wow. Tight on opening, but mellowed after approx 1 hour. Great finesse along with power. One of the best Shiraz wines I have had. Great fruit, not overpowered by the Shiraz "hammer" so evident in other wines.
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1/16/2009 - swp3 wrote:
Drank with the Curry's at the house. A near perfect representation of what it is which is: over-the-top shiraz. Fruit driven, big new oak influence and a little sweet. I can enjoy this in the right frame of mind, but it take some effort. DRE's notes below are right on the money for me.
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1/9/2009 - dionysis wrote: 91 Points
A little too much alcohol threw it out of balance in my opinion -- I agree that it benefits greatly from a little time in the glass/decanter, and it helps reveal a somewhat soft, velvety texture, but even after 3 hours of sitting the fruit seemed to be drowned by the alcohol.
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1/6/2009 - Jack wrote: 91 Points
Same as last July.
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1/3/2009 - EyeDoc wrote: 91 Points
Tasted double blind - I correctly identified this as a young aussie shiraz. Nice nose - lots of fresh bright fruits. Port like on the palate, unctuous,thick fruit. Some black pepper, spice, dark fruits. Would score higher if it weren't such a monolithic monster. A meal in itself.
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1/2/2009 - Bomba wrote: 98 Points
This was a near perfect Aussie Bomb. HUGE fruit attack on the nose as well as mint. Cream, Vanilla. Velvet smooth. Needs about 2 hours in the decanter. Ridiculous mouth feel, great mouth feel. Great loong finish. A bit too much sweetness was the only flaw on this.
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12/31/2008 - InternationalWineReport wrote: 96 Points
Bodacious! Pitch dark in color, This wine is big, concentrated and extremely dense. It focuses around Rich Blueberry Cream, Prunes, Raisins, Vanilla with some very subtle spice notes. Well balanced with Silky tannins. The 06 dooker has what it takes.
(Best from 2010-2020) - JD 96+
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12/20/2008 - brettp wrote: 95 Points
Notes very consistant with previous bottle. I will definately be purchasing more.
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12/18/2008 - rexmerlot wrote: 93 Points
Wow what a bouquet. Wine is young and still outstanding. Right out of bottle nose was great, hints of violet, chocolate. However, straight from bottle was disappointing. After a couple of hours of decanting the real wine showed up. Once it opened up it was great. Can't wait to try next bottle in 5 years.
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11/12/2008 - mharrison wrote: 94 Points
Loaded with ripe, purple fruit that stains the pallet. This wine really benefits from a short decanting. Out of the bottle it was shut down (yes, I shook it first), and did not exhibit much in terms of complexity, or smoothness. Frankly, I was somewhat disappointed. I decanted the next bottle for about one hour and witnessed a drastic improvement. A fine balance and velvety texture became evident, as did a pleasant nose of red fruit. Very dense, dark fruit with vanilla and wood undertones. I usually don't prefer wines with alcohol content this high (16%), but the forwardness of the flavors created enough of a balance for me to be satisfied with it. It's not something that I would serve with dinner, but it's good in front of a fireplace with a little cheese and chocolate..... and someone you love. This wine will cellar nicely, and should be at it's peak in 2-3 years.
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10/31/2008 - dre wrote:
I decanted this for 9 hours. That was not my initial decant time but sometimes life gets in the way of wine and you just have to deal with it.
The wine was clear, deep opaque core with almost no rim.
The nose was clean, ripe fruity, jamy cassis with a bit of heat and bold plywood flavor.
On the palate this guy was dry but not as huge as i was expecting. (probably the 9 hours helped, lol) First thing i noticed was the moderate + acidity that balanced out the bold jamy body. Sandalwood struck me head on as the oak was showing awkwardly. Tones of flavor in here though, mint, cocoa/ovaltine, butter come together with the supple fruit and smooth big body of this wine. The finish was very long and is pure blueberry. Tannins are dusty and suit the wine now, I would imagine they will slip away quickly as this wine ages.
Excellent Quality, although I have had many Ausi wines like this at half the price point.
Drink or hold - 2014.
Kudos for being able to hid 16% alc.
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9/30/2008 - mmyette wrote: 95 Points
What a pleasure. This wine give so much. Please see previous notes.
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9/27/2008 - dougie wrote: 94 Points
Amazing flavors and depth. So many things to pick out on the pallate. If you just look at the wine on the surface, I could easily see people having troubles with the Huge flavors. But, I liked finding the extreme amount of flavors in it.
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9/11/2008 - David S wrote:
excellent
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8/27/2008 - brettp wrote: 95 Points
Fabulous wine. Lovely fruit, dark and ripe. While the fruit is quite pronounced, I didn't find it to be the typical fruit bomb that you would expect from Mollydooker. I found this wine to be very balanced. Soft, velvety tannins and nicely balanced acidity. Lots of vaniila. Spice, some smoke, and cedar flavours round out the finish, which is very long and pleasant. This is great right out of the bottle, but some open time really does wonders for this wine. It's a bit on the expensive side for me, (especially because I'm in Canada and here it's about 105 a bottle) but well worth it for any special occasions. I will be buying more for the cellar.
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8/26/2008 - mmyette wrote: 95 Points
This was unctious, bordering on bombastic. The ultra-ripe jammy fruit nose gave way to a full bodied and bodacious palate of ripe red fruit, loads of vanilla oak, hints of brown spice and graham cracker, and a nice long finish. Hedonistic.
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8/14/2008 - nvandyk wrote: 97 Points
In contrast to the 2005, I didn't find this to be a pop and pour (or, rather, a pop, pour a tiny bit, recap, shake vigorously, reopen, allow nitrogen to escape, and pour) bottle. It took about half an hour before it integrated. After that, deliciously long, over-the-top Mollydooker blackberry.
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8/3/2008 - snic_124 wrote: 96 Points
No shake...just a quick decant and this wine was smokin'. Cannot add anything to the other reviews. This wine is phenomenal. Should age very well.
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7/29/2008 - shakedown wrote: 92 Points
Huge Wine, Smooth, Not overly complex right out of the bottle, a bit sweet, didn't impress that much initially, port qualities, thick, unctuous, etc...Initial impression:91. Gave it 24 hours in bottle and it really started to show added depth and complexity, much better nose w/o much alcohol vapors, 'cool' mouthfeel, fruit matched by spice and smoke. 93 points. I have a few more bottles that I will wait a few years on and I recommend decanting this at least for a few hours for maximum development. Overall: 92
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7/26/2008 - lrperkins wrote: 95 Points
Huge Wine with big dark fruit and impressive body and finish. Not your "old world" style, but it was just about one of the best things going in new world wine...
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7/22/2008 - bigdogflow wrote: 94 Points
Great Wine! A tremendous Austrailian Shiraz. Very enjoyable.
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7/21/2008 - Jack wrote: 91 Points
Couldn't decide on drinking wine or port so this one did the trick. Big as always but not quite as rich as previous bottle but still very good.
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7/4/2008 - AZwinelover1 wrote: 96 Points
Had last night after dinner - The nose was wonderful - dark, thick and tasty. This is one of the best. I think as good as 05
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6/20/2008 - A&C wrote: 95 Points
This was simply amazing shit -- the party consumed it like the last vapors of the last moments of oxygen on earth. Sweet, balanced, rich & smooth. Damon pulled it from the cellar, and he was right -- this kicked ass -- plain and simple.
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6/19/2008 - Vinacull wrote: 94 Points
Wife's genetic testing for cancer came back neg, so click-clack goes the screwcap and bring on the love. MD twice-shake, aerate decant, let sit one hour. Color dark cherry-purple, opaque. Bouquet in the room and in the glass is an explosively pure essence of blueberries, sweet cherries, flowers adding perfume, cream, oak, and tar. Initial taste we were struck by the sheer depth of cherry/raspberry fruit wrapped in chocolate, the velvety mouthfeel, the silky smooth virtually-hidden tannins, and the long finish of about 45 seconds. As we approached the end of the first glass it came together more, becoming more expressive in the nose and flavors. Returning from the restaurant at hour 5, the bouquet has added pungent expresso and mint leaf to the mix which is really nice, while the flavors on the palate are the same but now there is some alcohol burn in the midpalate that is not so welcome. Overall, this was memorable for the ample endowment of fruit and the sexy mouthfeel. But also controversial and has its negatives IMO. The mouthfeel draws on the fact that the body is so full/heavy it approaches syrup in the glass - even heavier than what I believe were better Sarah and Sparky days, as with the '02 and '03 Integrity. The fruit is so big, sweet and hedonistic, it seems like it has put a ceiling on anything else to give it complexity, and makes me wonder whether or not there would be any evolution with age. I won't take the risk by waiting; we will drink our next/last '06 within 5 years. I also agree with another reviewer's comment that I have a problem with shaking the wine like grape juice before drinking. It's like we are now participating in the winemaker's manipulations, and if you don't, the penalty could be a bomb that is muted, awkward, and alcoholic - and we have had lesser MD's that have tasted that way.
DAY 2: 30 hours later after sealing a half-glass, the bouquet shows slight oxidation on the fruit, and there is a strong perfume that's just like my french press coffee in the morning - quite nice. Interesting that it still does not seem to have gained complexity, only air. Even though I had already had a few tastes of other wines, the alcohol in this one catches me in the throat. Still delicious and the finish is just as long.
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6/17/2008 - vanpe003 wrote: 94 Points
Cesare's Group (Home - Minnesota): Deep, dark, super-extracted. With the heavy oak/vanilla, it's difficult to pick out varietal-specific characteristics. Nevertheless, for those (like me) who enjoy a big, bad fruit forward, oak forward monster for sipping, this one fits the bill. It would be a challenge to pair this one with food, with the exception of something smothered in sweet BBQ sauce. I have a feeling that this can age nicely, over the midterm at a minimum (3-5 years). I don't have enough experience with this style of wine to know how it'll end up beyond that.
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6/7/2008 - stoll wrote: 92 Points
Liked the '05 more - but this was still very good.
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5/31/2008 - winescrooge wrote: 86 Points
This wine did not live up to all the buzz going around. I was really let down, I looked at the bottle for months and months. I finally purchased it and the screw top didnt bother me. Poured one in a glass, poured another to decant..I found the wine to be too fruit forward, too sweet, OVER POWERING AND NOT BALANCED. The fruit gave it an almost syrup like texture, and was hard to find other flavors. R.P. Missed this one
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5/30/2008 - cookie7 wrote:
Really enjoyable - nice black peppers and spice. No heat evident.
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5/12/2008 - jamscreator wrote: 89 Points
Extremely dark purple with mocha carmel on the nose. This wine felt more like a chewy fig leaf with medium tannins and a mellow finish. Very good, but didn't live up to the hype for me. Hoping for better things in the next couple of years.
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5/10/2008 - jrobs7777 wrote: 95 Points
Delicious! Inky purple and dark, giving way to a reds and blues. This had a ton of fruit on the nose, mainly cherry and blueberry. It is exceptional in the mouth. Thick and rich. Most prominent are chocolate, cream and cedar with hints of cherry. It takes several tastes to unravel all of the levels of complexion. The length is incredible. It just goes on and on. At 16.0%, you simply would not know. It is so amazingly integrated. That is the big difference between this wine and Blue Eyed Boy and Two Left Feet. We have 3 bottles remaining and will not try again for 3+ years. If we can wait that long.
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5/10/2008 - Marc S wrote: 88 Points
Deep dark purple in color. A syrup like wine.
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5/1/2008 - spaniel wrote: 95 Points
Opened with a young lady friend. Did not know what to expect given the mixed press on the Mollydooker wines, and the predominantly negative Australian reviews on the wine's alcohol content.
Red purple. Astonishing nose, rich berries are detectable from a good 2m away! Rich mouthfilling palate, light on tannins but still somehow chunky. Thick viscous almost syrupy wine. The flavours are intense, berries and fruit of every variety seem to reverberate through your mouth. I didn't find it particularly spirity I might add, although after sharing the bottle we could certainly feel the 16% content.
By no means a particularly elegant or complex peice of winemaking, but hard to beat for sheer sensual pleasure and intensity of flavcur. Pretty hard not to really enjoy this one, I thought. Can't imagine it going very well with food, but an interesting taste experience on its own terms. A big hit with the aforementioned lady friend. Would definitely drink this again.
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4/3/2008 - fingers wrote: 94 Points
Purple and black, extremely dense, very thick. Roses, caramel corn, juniper in a high-intensity nose. Oak notes are solid, too. Huge fruitiness emerges from a blanket of velvet and spice. Walks a fine line between dry-off dry. Continues to grow on you sip after sip. Until, after a full glass I'm going, "This is borderline Port. Enough already." It's really, really delicious and I fully see the controversy. It's pretty much like nothing else I've ever tried and is a real conversation-starter among guests. Does better than other MD's at keeping the high-alcohol in check on the finish. (5+13+17+8) = 93
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3/29/2008 - Nutty08 wrote: 94 Points
Pebble Beach Food and Wine; 3/27/2008-3/30/2008 (Pebble Beach Resort, CA): Nose of dark fruit but not as forward as the Blue Eyed Boy. Palate is big, velvety, dense and layered. Big dark fruits, tarr and earth. Extremely long finish. Much more layered, better balanced, more complex and refined that Blue Eyed Boy. This carried it's high alcohol content well. The best over the top fruit bomb I've had.
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3/28/2008 - buckeye76 wrote: 96 Points
RICH DEEP FRUIT IN THE NOSE AND FLAVOR WITH DEEP BLACK FRUITS, CHOCOLATE, CURRANTS, AND SPICE. VERY LONG FINISH.
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3/21/2008 - dbg wrote:
lush, ripe, outstanding, fruit covers oak and tannin very well, a
cocktail wine
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3/20/2008 - bundydavis wrote: 91 Points
Another power Australian Shiraz. Great wine, but overpriced. Had this at a Mollydooker dinner night with the Blue Eyed Boy and Two Left Feet (all 2006), and the Blue Eyed Boy was the big winner. For $20.00 less, the Blue Eyed Boy was fruiter and more flavorful.
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3/20/2008 - hammie1234 wrote: 91 Points
I found this surprisingly approachable. We did a blind Mollydooker tasting at Wine Club (Carninal of Love, Blue Eyed Boy, Two Left Feet). Found the Carnival to be the most approachable of all three. Well balanced and smooth. The high price is the reason I don't rate this higher.
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3/17/2008 - wcurren wrote: 91 Points
Refined fruit bomb. A classier version of The Boxer.
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3/15/2008 - PeteDin206 wrote: 96 Points
Opened a bottle last night when some friends were supposed to come over for dinner. As they arrived their baby made a fuss so they headed home. A little upset to open this one so early, but I figured I'd give it a whirl. The fruit in this is just awesome. Lots of cherries, blueberries and chocolate. Very smooth going down. Honestly this is one of my favorites that I've opened recently. I'm glad I have 9 bottles left because I'm holding them for at least 4-5 more years before opening any more. The next morning I had about a glass left in the decanter... It has opened up a bit more with a bit more of the coffee and smokey flavors coming out. I am seriously excited about this wine for a couple years down the road. I see a 98 with a little time.
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3/8/2008 - shiraz guy wrote: 97 Points
Excellent, but not quite as good as the 05. Very good in all areas. Decanting not really needed all that much.
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2/23/2008 - drycab wrote: 94 Points
It was purer than the Boxer and had more class on the palate. It was hard for it to hide the 16%^ alcohol, however, and that brings the score down. It was given the Mollydooker shake and then decanted for an additional 3 hours.
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2/23/2008 - cmr wrote: 94 Points
More smooth and elegant, if you can say that about this wine :) then the boxer. The nose was dominated by the smoky oak and on the palate an explosion of blueberries with an excellent finish. For the money though really didn't see much difference in this from the boxer not certainly worth the $50 more on the price tag.
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2/14/2008 - Cobbster wrote: 97 Points
This one's a no-brainer: Carnival of Love for Valentine's Day dinner. I opened the bottle about two hours before dinner (no Mollydooker shake for me, I can't get my head around unscrewing the cap off an $80 wine and treating it like a juice bottle.) Like the last tasting, this one had a nose of berry fruit with a slightly smokey note. On the palate Carnival is delightful: gobs of blueberry, cherry, coffee, and smokey tar lead to a creamy finish that doesn't stop. This is the kind of wine that makes memories.
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2/4/2008 - Medo wrote: 96 Points
What a beauty! Very smooth and silky mouthfeel, but full throttle Aussie fruit: Blueberries, plum, some dark chocolate, vanilla, pepper, massive in your face, but balanced and in "harmony", if someone can use this term with this incredible fruit explosion. The finish is long and smooth, with very nice coffee/mocha notes on the finish. The alcohol is covered perfectly by the waves of fruit.... Really hard to say, but this wine was the best "over the top" fruit bomb I've ever had!
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2/3/2008 - Jack wrote: 96 Points
Wow. This doesn't seem to quite as in bold as the 2005 but it is a big wine that is in balance. Ripe fruit but not over the top. If there is tannin (I know there is) you can't detect it. Long finish. Just a great wine.
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2/2/2008 - rstudt wrote: 96 Points
Very satisfying level of character. Great long, spicy finish. Perfect on a cold, winter day.
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1/29/2008 - Terkel wrote: 94 Points
Australian cult wines (FOF): Black color with a thin purple rim. Aromas of dark berries, pepper, roasted oak and i hint of bacon!?. Alot of dark fruit on the palate, becoming more complex on the midpalate with some licories and espresso. Great lenght. Powerfull tannins but of the sweet, mouth watering kind. Lots of everything, very good wine.
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1/16/2008 - Paul Lin wrote: 93 Points
Aussie Wines Offline (Canyon Lodge American Grill - Laguna, CA): More love for the Carnival of Love. Aromas of dark chocolate, brown sugar, and molasses give way to a rich and creamy palate of blackberries, sweet licorice, and vanilla. Long finish. Really wonderful juice! 93-94 points.
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1/13/2008 - sosgoodjhu wrote: 93 Points
Velvety chocolate in the mouth, lingering finish. full throttle Aussie fruit. approachable now. enjoy as I did.
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12/31/2007 - mjf@ulkner wrote: 91 Points
Served for New Years Eve. Comments were "Porty", "Syrupy", "like blueberry pancakes". An "in your face kind of wine". Decanted for 4 hours. Rich, almost sweet, with blueberry compote nose. Extremely polished tannins. Not a wine for food, nice aperitif. Curious as to how this might evolve...
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12/23/2007 - lizjagla@yahoo.com wrote: 94 Points
Bought several bottles of this Wine Spectator top 10 wine, so I thought I'd give it a try early on to see how it compares over the years. Decanted 3 hours before drinking and could still smell the alcohol, so I see what people mean by letting this air a LONG time. Would have benefitted even more with a longer decant. Nonetheless I really enjoyed this wine as it drinks today and see this as a great potential wine down the road. Very complex taste with a great finish.
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12/11/2007 - robertgoulet wrote: 90 Points
A scaled down version of the boxer. I felt this wine was a refined version of the boxer, if that is to be believed. There was nothing over the top chewy or jammy about this wine. I expected a complex array of flavors to attack my palate, but really never happened. It's a good wine, but lack complexity and is one dimensional. The nose is the only highlight.
It's still a nice drinking shiraz, but lacks anything special. We recently drank the 03' Henry's Drive shiraz and it crushes this wine, by being more complex with a better flavor profile and I'm not talking the reserve bottle, just the regular Henry's Drive.
The Carnival of love would be priced right in the mid twenty dollar range. Believe me I'm a big mollydooker, marquis phillips fan. Maybe I am being to harsh a critic after one try. I still have the 05' version to try.
This wine was not decanted which may have done some justice, nor was there any around to reevaluate on day two. Instead, this was popped poured out a small amount, shook the bottle and then poured into glasses. It was open for about one hour before it was emptied between two of us. If you want a more crowd pleasing shiraz to impress your non wine geek friends then go for the marquis phillips 05' shiraz for $11, or the mollydooker boxer for $22.
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12/9/2007 - avwineguy wrote: 91 Points
Took community advice and gave this about a six hour decant. What I most noted was the lush mouth feel and the long finish with chocalate notes. Dark berries on the palate. Big, big wine.
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12/7/2007 - TRussell wrote: 87 Points
Decant for 2 hours. Wine was incredibly thick and rich. Practically wanted to chew each mouth full. A little to peppery in the beginning for my tastes but the finish just kept on going and was quite enjoyable once I got past the start.
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12/6/2007 - Terkel wrote: 94 Points
Mollydooker 2006 tasting: Black color. Refined elegant nose with blue berries and raisin, some spices, dark chocolate and i note of licorise. On the palate it has warm fruit, blue berries and plums. Starting out with a good fruit sweetness, leading into the midpalate with licorise, tobaco and chocolate. Great balance, long good length, and soft velvety feel. Not as creamy and smooth as the Enchanted Path, but packing a little more of everything else. This is great now, but it will probably be huge in the future.
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11/23/2007 - EMichels wrote: 89 Points
Red Carpet Wine Tasting: Ripe but reasonably balanced
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11/19/2007 - pian0_player wrote: 92 Points
When first opened I thought it would be awesome. The nose was impressive right out of the bottle. I decantered for four hours and enjoyed the wine. Nice dark fruits with chocolate and smooth tannins. After a while I got a bit bored with it. It just didn't really develop into anything spectacular. I think it is over hyped. Good wine, but really nothing special. Certainly not worth the $80 price tag.
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11/18/2007 - redpine42 wrote: 90 Points
It wasn't bad, but there was nothing really exciting about this drink. Drank 2005 Amon Ra last weekend and this had nothing to compare.
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11/18/2007 - Cobbster wrote: 95 Points
Tasted this against the 2005 Two Hands Bella's Garden. Carnival starts out slugging with both fists. This is a big wine, and to be fair, I decided to taste Carnival shortly after my first taste of the Bella's, which had had an hour to open up. There's nothing subtle going on here: a flood of fruit, with smoke and tar followed by a long finish. I decided to let the bottle sit overnight and stick to the Bella's. After sitting this wine is far more interesting: a much softer but still flavorful drink. I really enjoyed this wine.
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10/30/2007 - foodandwineblog wrote: 96 Points
Opened and tasted immediately: Mushroom, plum, cherry, big fruits, big yet soft tannins. Decanted.
2 hour decant: Great color. Still tight on the nose. The initial mushroom note is gone with the appearance of a musty-forest floor with a touch of pepper and bacon. On the palette it’s toasted cedar, vanilla, plum, pretty solid through the middle with a long, complex finish that goes on and on. At this point I’m definitely seeing 96 pts or more.
3 hour decant: Again showing better, more buttery now with a bit more spice. The fruits in this wine just don’t stop. Quite pleasing and still 96+ points.
4 hour decant: Just as elegant as before. I’m quite impressed with the structure of this wine and overall quality. Very good. A very solid 96 points.
I am going to have to track down a 2005 to have side by side when I open the next bottle of this in 6 months or so. My rating: 96 pts. - foodandwineblog.com
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10/29/2007 - California Cape wrote: 96 Points
Awesome. 7 hour decant paid off. Unbelievably smooth mouth-feel, tons of flavor - overwhelming chocolate. Got greedy and opened a second bottle - didn't decant (and it was a mistake). Big difference.
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10/22/2007 - beau11 wrote: 94 Points
huge wine which needs time to for the tannins to mellow and alcohol to mellow...decanted for 2 hours and drank over 2 hours...amazing intensity, revealed dark cherry, caramel, mocha...finish very long but a little hot
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10/17/2007 - BSteffes wrote: 95 Points
What an incredible Shiraz! A grown and refined version of the Boxer! Needs about ½-1 hour to have its nose open up….though it will still tempt you to try it before then. Nose is complex and powerful…but refined without the heat. The mouth is silk with thick cherry, blueberry, and meaty tones. The tannins are flawless in my opinion. Paired this one with steak…and was not disappointed. Will wait another 9-12 months before opening another one. This one reminded me a lot of the 2005 Bellas Garden.
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9/24/2007 - California Cape wrote: 92 Points
Very high expectations; fell just a little flat. Needed more decant time. Last year's blew me away, but this year is still very good.
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9/18/2007 - dannyk8232 wrote: 96 Points
Notes from memory.
Nose was completely closed for the first 45 min or so. Took incredible restraint to not delve into the glass! Unbelievably opaque red. Notes of blueberry, cherry and vanilla. Palate is a rich combination of blueberry, chocolate and a blast of coffee. Silky smooth finish which lasts for days. Unbelievable balance. What a wine. Needs time in the bottle to settle.
40+5+5+18+19+9=96
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9/15/2007 - mmurry wrote: 92 Points
Stickies and Shiraz (Farpointe Cellar): A lovely nose of blueberry and cherry, mixed with some milkiness, and eucalyptus. The palate was smooth, with plum, raspberry, pepper, and oak. The finish was a bit hot, but very good.
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6/17/2007 - sajjy wrote: 97 Points
At Mollydooker event At Cab's Bistro.looked forward to this wine and was NOT disappointed,big,beautiful charcoal long finish.As good as the 05'
Will try 1 bottle a year for the next 12 years.I Love this wine
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6/9/2007 - Paul Lin wrote: 94 Points
Mollydooker Tasting (The Cannery - Newport Beach, CA): This is a really nice wine, one that I think has the ability to surpass the 2005 COL. Gorgeous nose of black raspberry, blueberries, and expresso. Rich and concentrated, this wine offers a lush palate that matches the nose, with the additional accent of cinnamon spice. Mouthcoating texture balanced by firm tannins and acidity. Long, long finish. 93-94 points.
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