Opened to have a glass with some cheese. Just popped and poured. Not very expressive upon opening. Maybe a tinge of cork taint in the background (like the last bottle) but at least initially did not show any sparkle on the palate. Palate is decent but no more. Some sweet blackberry and cherry fruit, clearly ripe and rich, but lacking some substance, finish is almost thin despite the weight. Dry fine tannins. Decent acidity. Still a nice wine, but glad I opened with some cheese rather than with some company.....
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Interesting and a little different. Pretty fresh, some complexity, loads of blackberry and red cherry, some licorice, tobacco. After some time showed some VA and regressed..... :(
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted 45 minutes. Slight bricking. Has lost a step since prior bottle. Nicely integrated sweet and sour red fruits, but a touch faded, with minimal acidity. Not terrible but past its peak.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
My latest bottle, cork closure, doesn't have much fruit and the 15.5% alcohol dominates. Alcohol nose, slightly sour alcohol flavour with a hint of green and some sweetness. I couldn't drink much more than one glass, which was with food.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Concentrated blueberry fragrance, hint of green, tingly tongue of acid, and body from the alcohol. Mild tannins. This is rich, tasty and indulgent. Not over the top, but I wouldn't call it elegant. A treat.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Very dark red with heavy sediment. Nose is fruit, perfume and vanilla. There is oak in this but all the fruit, menthol, smoke handles it well. Not monstrous but well concentrated, delicious and balanced.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Deep Ruby but not quite glass staining. A nose giving cassis (yes, I know it’s a Shiraz but it smells of cassis OK?), tar, pencil shavings and an eraser from an old woodwork box, black plums, bramble, damsons, blueberry jam (the high fruit, low sugar type), a hint of prune and another of smoke. On the palate; a whacking huge mouthfeel with black plums, cooked plums, bramble, ripe blueberries, tobacco, toast, slightly charred wood and a touch of smoke. Warm from the 15.5% abv but nothing unpleasant.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This time I found the intensity of the fruit a little overpowering, with not enough other elements to counter-balance. Overall disappointing - hopefully its just a bottle thing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Very concentrated for a Heathcote shiraz. Lots of fruit, but at the same time some nice spice. The acidity is still quite pronounced, which could be a problem with the fruit, but the tannins manage to keep it in balance. There are definitely a few more years in this. The fruit needs the acidity and vice versa. There is a risk that they evolve at different paces but for now it works.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Warm climate Shiraz, especially when aged in new American oak, used to be a favourite of mine. Probably 10 years ago now. It's fair to say that my palate has moved on, but I still have some of these lurking in the cellar. This Tatiarra is a prime example of the style. There is some quality fruit in there, but it's shrouded in bold, brash oak. 15.5% alcohol just adds to the dilemma. There are some really nice glimmers of blackcurrant and blueberry. Even some road tar like charred oak which is fine. But then it finishes with wood tannins, like you've been sucking grape juice through an oak beam.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I must have bought this from Garagiste. Don't have those notes. Long story there. Another one of John's wines that I bought based on the verbiage and didn't get around to drinking for years. Some of those have been real dogs. Not this one. This is a stand up triple if not a Home Run. Not out of the park, but over the fence; you get the idea. I do like big and extracted. I don't like over the top, but I guess that's relative to everyone else's standards. That being said, this was big and fruit driven but not only about fruit. There was an element of complexity there and there was enough acid and structure to keep it interesting for me.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
I usually do not like big, bold bruising monster wines. This one is an exception. The balance somehow makes it all seem elegant. Huge dark red and black fruits, graphite, Heathcote soil I suppose (I like Jasper Hill), and nice earthy, spicy sandalwood finish-- everything seemed in check.
I bought this back when I actually digested J. Rimmerman's hyperbole (from garagiste) instead of just deleting the emails once I scroll to the wine's name and price if I bother with that at all. I don't recall why I purchased this bottle (for $45!!), exactly - probably because I had little experience with Australian Shiraz of any note and wanted to change that. 7 years later I get around to opening it, and in the interim I have decided I'm really not much of a syrah fan, let alone a shiraz fan. Just to preface my note… nose: darkly fruited, borderline overripe for my taste. Almost port-like. Perhaps some cocoa powder as well. palate: viscous and intense, it's marked by blueberry and a scratch of sandalwood. I can sense/feel the high alcohol more than I can actually taste it - I know it's there but I can move past it. THe acidity is rich and foreword, offering balance to what I would otherwise consider a hulking bruiser. It's OK, but not at all something I would pick out on my own nowadays…would definitely suggest pairing with a big hunk of steak. In the outback. Sitting next to a fire while sharpening hunting knives. Listening to Crocodile Dundee's epic journey in NYC.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Young, rich and ripe, drunk from plastic goblets by the pool with friends....everyone enjoyed but a bit much for me and probably not the right setting, temp, etc. I meant to leave this longer in the cellar and drink the Caravan of Dreams bottling but grabbed quickly and ran to pool
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Red to a thin pink rim. Red fruit nose. It has red fruit and vanilla on the palate with medium weight and very fine tannin - almost silky. I like the style but was expecting more complex palate.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted 3+ hours. Dense, viscous black core. Ripe plum, black pepper, candied fig and eucalypt. Tannins and acidity well balanced. Not as big as I was expecting (though from previous experience with Tatiarra I was expecting something huge). Worth waiting on these I feel. Be interesting to see what 10 years will bring to the party.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Bright, electric red cherry fruit; intense, wild cherry and spice; dried herbal scrub, berries; dried cherry; medium body with a long finish. This would be good with something grilled with potent BBQ sauce; Carries the 15.5% well. 40-50 yo vines; oldest soils on the continent--maybe the world?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
bright fruit. strawberry, rasberry syrup, and plum. a little syrupy this has some sugar in there. the finish is sweet and pleasant. surprising lack of heat.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Young, but drinkable. Purple fruit/blueberry, juicy, chocolate and oak nuances well integrated, balanced, great mouthfeel. Secondary flavors just beginning to emerge. Excellent Shiraz will keep improving in the cellar.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Beefy Aussie shiraz, red and blue berries, black pepper, raw beef on the nose and palate. Young and a little tight. Some heat in the finish. I liked it nonetheless
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Very dark, inky. Ripe, lush fruit and interesting basil but I'm bothered by a hint of spoilage. Big red berry fruit. Not hot despite the 15.5% alcohol. This bottle purchased at K&L in Redwood City and consumed the next day. I have 6 bottles from another source in my cellar in Canada - I will taste one of those soon.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Tasted from wine dispenser at Just Grapes in Chicago. Inky medium ruby color. Pepper, spice, plum aromas with dark berries. Lush but structured palate. Nice effort.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Epicurean Wines Portfolio Tasting (Liner & Elsen Wine Merchants, Portland, OR): Very young. Big wine that definitely needs more time. Can still get huge, concentrated flavors of blueberry and blackberry coming through with a nice peppery finish. Tannins are big as well. 3-5 more years in bottle and this wine will blow your socks off. #2 wine of the tasting for me. Outstanding - 92 points.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
8/30/2021 - Easter Everywhere wrote:
Very good.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/24/2020 - thebonnydooner wrote: 88 Points
Opened to have a glass with some cheese. Just popped and poured. Not very expressive upon opening. Maybe a tinge of cork taint in the background (like the last bottle) but at least initially did not show any sparkle on the palate. Palate is decent but no more. Some sweet blackberry and cherry fruit, clearly ripe and rich, but lacking some substance, finish is almost thin despite the weight. Dry fine tannins. Decent acidity. Still a nice wine, but glad I opened with some cheese rather than with some company.....
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
8/5/2020 - thebonnydooner wrote:
Interesting and a little different. Pretty fresh, some complexity, loads of blackberry and red cherry, some licorice, tobacco. After some time showed some VA and regressed..... :(
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/10/2020 - bubblewitz Likes this wine: 93 Points
Plum, spice, smooth
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/29/2020 - Magnolian Likes this wine: 88 Points
Decanted 45 minutes. Slight bricking. Has lost a step since prior bottle. Nicely integrated sweet and sour red fruits, but a touch faded, with minimal acidity. Not terrible but past its peak.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/2/2020 - KVM wrote:
The smell of vinegar - oops! slightly oxidized but still dominated by sweet dark fruit.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/20/2019 - barrkel wrote: 90 Points
Latest bottle was quite tasty, per early notes.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/12/2019 - barrkel wrote: 88 Points
My latest bottle, cork closure, doesn't have much fruit and the 15.5% alcohol dominates. Alcohol nose, slightly sour alcohol flavour with a hint of green and some sweetness. I couldn't drink much more than one glass, which was with food.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/22/2019 - KVM wrote:
Very dark. Blackberries, cooked beet, clove. Richly textured, smoky, bacon, black fruit palate. Long enough with a little heat. Tannin is resolved.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/5/2019 - barrkel Likes this wine: 92 Points
Concentrated blueberry fragrance, hint of green, tingly tongue of acid, and body from the alcohol. Mild tannins. This is rich, tasty and indulgent. Not over the top, but I wouldn't call it elegant. A treat.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/6/2018 - KVM wrote:
Very dark red with heavy sediment. Nose is fruit, perfume and vanilla. There is oak in this but all the fruit, menthol, smoke handles it well. Not monstrous but well concentrated, delicious and balanced.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/23/2018 - Magnolian Likes this wine: 92 Points
Complex red fruit flavors have matured and mellowed nicely. Several years left.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/14/2018 - winoma Likes this wine: 91 Points
Still lots of life left. Huge fruit - almost a bit syrupy but a crowd pleaser.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/13/2018 - winoma Likes this wine: 91 Points
Lovely crowd pleaser. High alcohol but nice balance and good fruit. A winner.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/17/2018 - Easter Everywhere Likes this wine:
Profuse fruit, quite good, should hang for a while
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/28/2018 - SimonHea wrote: 92 Points
Deep Ruby but not quite glass staining. A nose giving cassis (yes, I know it’s a Shiraz but it smells of cassis OK?), tar, pencil shavings and an eraser from an old woodwork box, black plums, bramble, damsons, blueberry jam (the high fruit, low sugar type), a hint of prune and another of smoke.
On the palate; a whacking huge mouthfeel with black plums, cooked plums, bramble, ripe blueberries, tobacco, toast, slightly charred wood and a touch of smoke. Warm from the 15.5% abv but nothing unpleasant.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/12/2017 - winoma Likes this wine: 90 Points
Drinking well. Crowd pleaser with lovely fruit, balance and weight to the wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/17/2017 - Andrew67 wrote: 89 Points
This time I found the intensity of the fruit a little overpowering, with not enough other elements to counter-balance. Overall disappointing - hopefully its just a bottle thing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/13/2016 - Parko82 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Lush ripe blackberries, licorice, vanilla and a little spice..
Velvety tannins, nice length and well balanced. Drink over the next 2 or 3 years..
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/15/2016 - Andrew67 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very concentrated for a Heathcote shiraz. Lots of fruit, but at the same time some nice spice. The acidity is still quite pronounced, which could be a problem with the fruit, but the tannins manage to keep it in balance. There are definitely a few more years in this. The fruit needs the acidity and vice versa. There is a risk that they evolve at different paces but for now it works.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/13/2016 - Italiana Likes this wine:
Deep purple. Rich fruit, full body, resolved tannins, carries its alcohol well. Another enjoyable, if fairly heavy, bottle of wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/11/2016 - Italiana Likes this wine:
Drinking nicely. Forceful, but not overly aggressive.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/3/2016 - Italiana wrote:
Drinkable enough, just neither very lively or nuanced.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/7/2015 - cobystilp wrote: 91 Points
Smoky. You can smell burnt red fruit underneath.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/31/2015 - majamke wrote:
Warm climate Shiraz, especially when aged in new American oak, used to be a favourite of mine. Probably 10 years ago now. It's fair to say that my palate has moved on, but I still have some of these lurking in the cellar. This Tatiarra is a prime example of the style. There is some quality fruit in there, but it's shrouded in bold, brash oak. 15.5% alcohol just adds to the dilemma. There are some really nice glimmers of blackcurrant and blueberry. Even some road tar like charred oak which is fine. But then it finishes with wood tannins, like you've been sucking grape juice through an oak beam.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/20/2014 - drdecanto Likes this wine: 93 Points
I must have bought this from Garagiste. Don't have those notes. Long story there. Another one of John's wines that I bought based on the verbiage and didn't get around to drinking for years. Some of those have been real dogs. Not this one. This is a stand up triple if not a Home Run. Not out of the park, but over the fence; you get the idea. I do like big and extracted. I don't like over the top, but I guess that's relative to everyone else's standards. That being said, this was big and fruit driven but not only about fruit. There was an element of complexity there and there was enough acid and structure to keep it interesting for me.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
3/26/2014 - jmht wrote: 90 Points
I usually do not like big, bold bruising monster wines. This one is an exception. The balance somehow makes it all seem elegant. Huge dark red and black fruits, graphite, Heathcote soil I suppose (I like Jasper Hill), and nice earthy, spicy sandalwood finish-- everything seemed in check.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (2)
1/3/2014 - lkatz Likes this wine: 89 Points
drank very well
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/14/2013 - tarheel17 wrote:
I bought this back when I actually digested J. Rimmerman's hyperbole (from garagiste) instead of just deleting the emails once I scroll to the wine's name and price if I bother with that at all. I don't recall why I purchased this bottle (for $45!!), exactly - probably because I had little experience with Australian Shiraz of any note and wanted to change that. 7 years later I get around to opening it, and in the interim I have decided I'm really not much of a syrah fan, let alone a shiraz fan. Just to preface my note…
nose: darkly fruited, borderline overripe for my taste. Almost port-like. Perhaps some cocoa powder as well.
palate: viscous and intense, it's marked by blueberry and a scratch of sandalwood. I can sense/feel the high alcohol more than I can actually taste it - I know it's there but I can move past it. THe acidity is rich and foreword, offering balance to what I would otherwise consider a hulking bruiser. It's OK, but not at all something I would pick out on my own nowadays…would definitely suggest pairing with a big hunk of steak. In the outback. Sitting next to a fire while sharpening hunting knives. Listening to Crocodile Dundee's epic journey in NYC.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/13/2013 - redz wrote: flawed
funky port-like prunieness. maybe shipping issues
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/21/2013 - Mr T wrote:
Young, rich and ripe, drunk from plastic goblets by the pool with friends....everyone enjoyed but a bit much for me and probably not the right setting, temp, etc. I meant to leave this longer in the cellar and drink the Caravan of Dreams bottling but grabbed quickly and ran to pool
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/3/2013 - KVM wrote: 90 Points
Red to a thin pink rim. Red fruit nose. It has red fruit and vanilla on the palate with medium weight and very fine tannin - almost silky. I like the style but was expecting more complex palate.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/8/2012 - majamke Likes this wine: 91 Points
Decanted 3+ hours. Dense, viscous black core. Ripe plum, black pepper, candied fig and eucalypt. Tannins and acidity well balanced. Not as big as I was expecting (though from previous experience with Tatiarra I was expecting something huge). Worth waiting on these I feel. Be interesting to see what 10 years will bring to the party.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/9/2012 - peternelson wrote: 93 Points
Bright, electric red cherry fruit; intense, wild cherry and spice; dried herbal scrub, berries; dried cherry; medium body with a long finish. This would be good with something grilled with potent BBQ sauce; Carries the 15.5% well. 40-50 yo vines; oldest soils on the continent--maybe the world?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/12/2011 - ews3 wrote: 91 Points
bright fruit. strawberry, rasberry syrup, and plum. a little syrupy this has some sugar in there. the finish is sweet and pleasant. surprising lack of heat.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/19/2010 - Giggs wrote: 93 Points
Young, but drinkable. Purple fruit/blueberry, juicy, chocolate and oak nuances well integrated, balanced, great mouthfeel. Secondary flavors just beginning to emerge. Excellent Shiraz will keep improving in the cellar.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/8/2010 - Uglypinga wrote:
Beefy Aussie shiraz, red and blue berries, black pepper, raw beef on the nose and palate. Young and a little tight. Some heat in the finish. I liked it nonetheless
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/7/2009 - KVM wrote: 86 Points
Very dark, inky. Ripe, lush fruit and interesting basil but I'm bothered by a hint of spoilage. Big red berry fruit. Not hot despite the 15.5% alcohol. This bottle purchased at K&L in Redwood City and consumed the next day. I have 6 bottles from another source in my cellar in Canada - I will taste one of those soon.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/13/2009 - ews3 wrote: 92 Points
nice, fruity red -- no formal note -- well liked by group
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/23/2009 - lewrose@gmail.com wrote:
Very big and fruity. Drank quickly.Looking forward to the next one.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/27/2009 - ews3 wrote: 93 Points
Profugo's Wine Taste 2009 - Organic and Biodynamic Wine Tasting (Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia PA): really enjoyed this. black fruit in abundance, some chocolate as well. long finish. a joy to drink.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/2/2008 - beezer6 wrote: 92 Points
Tasted from wine dispenser at Just Grapes in Chicago.
Inky medium ruby color.
Pepper, spice, plum aromas with dark berries.
Lush but structured palate. Nice effort.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/10/2008 - lkatz wrote: 91 Points
very nice
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/3/2008 - KVM wrote:
Minty, currant, delicious and concentrated. Very good and ageworthy.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/25/2008 - RPerro wrote: 92 Points
Epicurean Wines Portfolio Tasting (Liner & Elsen Wine Merchants, Portland, OR): Very young. Big wine that definitely needs more time. Can still get huge, concentrated flavors of blueberry and blackberry coming through with a nice peppery finish. Tannins are big as well. 3-5 more years in bottle and this wine will blow your socks off. #2 wine of the tasting for me. Outstanding - 92 points.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment