This wine has always amazed. Four bottles over the last two months. Bought on release and cellared at 52 degrees for 20 years. Muted nose. While the Viognier contribution to the nose is gone, the silky texture and saturated dark ruby color remains. Fruit faded somewhat, but silky tannins and mouthwatering acidity make this a balanced joy to dink...still. One bottle left, and on to the 2002.
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I am sort of surprised to see four recent notes - 2018 to 2020 - as this I would consider a 'mid range' d'Arenberg a level below the Dead Arm, Coppermine Road and Ironstone Pressings, which are all very age worthy. I am equally surprised to see >300 bottles still remaining in peoples cellars. In my case, I somehow forgot it in corner of the cellar, otherwise I'd probably have consumed it many years ago. Fortunately, my cellar is cool, and this wines ageability has completely exceeded my expectations! A great, fully mature and thus complex wine with rich body and intense aromatics. Depechemoroder describes it excellently below. If you're one of those with bottles remaining, I'd recommend checking in and see, what you think. To my taste and prefenrence it is fully mature and will not improce from this point.
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In a lovely mature place. Leather and prunes with some smoky intensity and an old country house feel. Plush and round, this wavers between old elegance and something a bit chunkier. Tannins are faint, but there is balance. Good with stews.
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Excited to taste as had been in storage for a while. V fruity. Immediately accessible. Can’t decide if just fruity or had real backbone. Seemed delicious.
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I think past prime, but my wife liked it to my surprise. To me it tasted like fruit stew, with no structure and not much acidity left, very flabby. Not bad, just very one dimensional and not to my liking.
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By far, the best showing of this wine I've had. I guess it just needed some time to get itself together. Mature wine, tannins resolved, dark plum color, dark fruits, eucalpytus, oak and licorice, long finish. Full bodied and smooth. Nose a bit muted, and a touch of heat still drop the score a couple notches.
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Deep purple teeth staining, jammy fruit, with smooth tannins, medium length finish and enjoyable shiraz. But a ton of sediment, so would recommend decanting.
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Hot and heavy. A bit gamey. It did open up though after about an hour and became more pleasant....the crowd finished it. Not the best showing for this wine. Drink now with a decant.
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Blackberry, coffee and pepper nose. Characteristic McLaren Vale big Shiraz softened by the Viognier. Starts dry but long finish with velvety tannins. Would benefit from cellaring for a few more years
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Absolutely better than the previous bottle. Viognier added to this wine creates a mellowness to this fantastic wine that will keep you back. Sweeter than a 100% Shiraz, this wine is prime with blackberry, tobacco and sweet cherry flavors. I just love this wine. Love it!!
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a delicious combination. shiraz power with viogner to tone down the excess. brings out apricot flavors along with shiraz usual measure of black fruits and pepper. This wing is far from past its peak--good for another 4-5 years.
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NobleRottersSydney - Shiraz-Viognier (Alio's, Surry Hills): [cork, 14.5%] {Stephen} Only the second vintage of this label I believe, and probably less extreme than some of its successors. An aged, raisiny nose, with burnt molasses, stewed fruits and charcoal notes. Smells better than it reads! The palate is dry, with soft oak and tannins, medium-bodied weight and a general impression of luscious fruit-cake shiraz flavours, instead of shoveling obvious voignier characters down your throat, which is all to the good, but it’s rather let down by a hot, almost spirity finish. Pity. Only likely to become less balanced with time, so get into it.
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Initially disappointing. It was our sense the wine was a little ripe and past it's prime. It was smooth, but lacking in the usual pepper, spice and fruit-forward nature. However...on the second day, the nose was richer and the pepper, tannins and fruit were much more evident. These are, however, not going to improve with further age in the bottle. Fruits seemed somewhat raspberry in nature, elements of tar or leather and slight earthy nature not evident when previously consumed.
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Impromptu White Burgundy Tasting; 2/28/2009-3/1/2009 (Lake Elmo): I really enjoy this, though truth be told, it probably suffers a bit from not being adequately prepped (stored upside down, should've allowed a week or so for the sediment to settle back to the bottom). That said, this is a nice bottle of wine that appears to be at its peak. Medium bodied, it's nicely balanced on the palate, with a nice amount of food friendly structure/acidity still remaining.
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Last bottle, and I'm sad I opened it because this can easily go a few more years if cellared properly. Decant and pour. Color is very dark red verging on black. Probably should have filtered it due to significant sediment. Medium-full body. I was hoping it would show some age, but none was apparent other than a slight brown tinge at the rim. This is the first fruit bomb we've had in a few weeks, so it really stands out. Explosive nose of blackberry essence and blackberry pie, and a little pepper and soy sauce --- sadly no floral component detected. Floods the palate with teeth-staining blackberry, cream, earth and pepper. Lots of chewy extract, and toward the end of the bottle the bitter sediment in the finish contrasts the sweetness of the fruit. The price for this 3-4 years ago was $18, but even if you're paying a few dollars more for bottle aging, it is still a very good QPR.
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Loved this. Rich raspberry, hot cherry pie nose allied to very refined, velvety tannin. Licorice lockdown, some honeysuckle notes (presumably from the Viognier), and just beautiful berry flavors hitting all the right spots. WOTN.
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Hadn't planned on decanting for 90+ minutes, but it worked out well for the benefit of this wine. I have been a d'Arenberg fan for about 20 months, and this wine reinforces why. While not necessary a spendid buy for the dollar, this very dark wine presented blackberry, sweet cherry pipe tobacco and pepper on the nose and on the palate. Quite tanic and a shorter finish than I had expected. Still quite good.
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Very deep colour; bursting with fruit, bright, showy, that archetypal 'sunshine in a bottle'; bursting with gobs of ripe fruit, enough acidity; overbearing. Better than rank, undernourished wines of old; but there is a happy mid-way.
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Very enjoyable, had at Farmhouse Cafe w/Julia... Spread the joy to the server, owner, as well as the staff.. Bouquet of Dark fruits, floral, big nose, inviting... Blueberry pie filling, dark fruits on the palate upfront... midpalate of subtle earthiness, no bitterness, mellow tanins, maybe a little vanilla, good lengthy finish.. very polished, seemed to have lots of life left in it.
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Simply great stuff. Very aromatic, with pepper, flowers, and a little licorice. A virtual cornucopia of berries and cherries in the mouth, backed up by still-large tannins and a streak of spicy black pepper. I'm going on a mission to acquire some more of this wine.
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Jammy black fruits, white pepper, kirsch, a touch of grilled herbs and a floral edge. Smooth and dense but not heavy. The peppery finish shows just a little heat. Enjoyable but lacks individuality and energy. Seems to be in the prime drinking window with well integrated oak and less obvious alcohol compared to a couple of years ago.
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Very nice & balanced -there is a lot going on in this bottle with dark fruit dominating but not over the top -good structure & finish should be good for a while to come -try a 2002 next time.
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Drunk in a wine tasting with good bordeaux, rhone and priorat. The wine stood up well and for some was the wine of the night. Still has a tannic edge cloaked in the fruit. A lot of oak showing.
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Great bottle of wine. Big black fruit, wth some toasty oak. However, bigger tannic backbone than most other Shiraz, even with a bitter edige. Should be left for another couple of years
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Magnificent cherry scent on opening; excellent development, after 3 hours best taste. Sweetness now milder, complete, excellent. Obviously the other bottles were just too young. This wine has several years potential. With that in mind: 93P
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This wine was drinking better a couple of years ago. Should be left to breathe for a while. Black berried fruit, with a touch of soy. Hollowness on the front and middle palate. Viognier throttles the wine back.
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A lot of pepper in this one, both white and black, spices abound, tannins are strong with great raspberry and black cherry. Oak is showing with a nice balance on the finish. Good stuff
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Decanted an hour before serving. Wonderful aroma of blueberries at first, morphing into blackberry after a time. None of the Viognier component was discernable (to me, anyway) on the nose but it was in the body as it leavened the fuller Shiraz component. Paired well with lasagna. Medium bodied with tannins and acidity nicely balanced by ripe fruit. Leaning toward elegant - a nice change from the power school of Aussie Shiraz.
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Opened 45mins prior to drinking. Lovely soft fruit flavours, good oak integration. May have benefited from decanting because the wine seemed to open up a little by the second glass. Not quite as good as I remember though...
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Drinking nicely. Tried the leftovers the following morning and it had opened up well with no sign of oxidation. Suggest long decanting for best results.
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Very Zin like. High tone, stoney, jammy fruit. Shows the a strong floral edge and some alcohol heat on the nose. Bright red fruits on the palate. The finish shows citrus and a little hot. Nice enough but my palate has moved away from these wines recently.
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This wine still has a dark, deep ruby color with hints of purple. Aromas of mint, eucalytus and dark, dried fruit on the nose. Plenty of acidity still exists in this medium to full bodied wine, with flavors of blackberry and plum on the palate. A lingering acidity leads to a medium length finish.
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Jammy berry and black cherry, tar, bourbon and peach stone on the nose. Excellent fruit and structure on the palate and finish. No sign of heat. Ready now and should improve over the next 1-2 years. This is higher tone and riper than the '02 version.
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We really didn't care for this wine. This is a stylistic prefrence and I suppose it might be an appealing flavor profile for some but we thought it was a waste of calories (WOCs). Mr. Winetex said he thought the flavors included "stilton" cheese. Ewwww. Poured out.
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i suppose this wine is okay. it took a while to open up; when it did it had aromas of blackberries. deep dark colour. but it was lacking in the mid-palate. definately an oaky taste to it... i find the finish a tad off...
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No improvement over the past 6 months. Lots of fruit but more oak than I can take. The oak intensified the longer the bottle was open. However, others that enjoy this Aussie style liked this wine. Thankfully, my last bottle of the 01. Now, what to do with the 02s?
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This wine, for my palate is progressing great...only problem is I just drank my last bottle. Not nearly as jammy as upon release, it's really starting to throttle back and enter a nice phase with moderate complexity both in the nose on the palate. Floral, a hint of blueberries and a little bit of game. Long finish, outstanding wine.
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This was a very good wine. Wondering if there was bottle variation since others here detected some imbalance. I found this wine to be more restrained than your typical aussie shiraz. Acidity was good, along with tons of fruit. I just love the shiraz/viognier blend.
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The fruit is still there in spades but I just could not get past the oak. It overwhelmed everything the wine had to offer. No improvement on day 2. I sure don't look forward to my remaining bottle - may be a nice gift for a non-oakphobe since it is that time of year.
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Election day - the perfect wine. Impressions were good, and I really like the Viognier in the blend - it seems to mellow some of the harsh syrah flavor. Good, enjoyable wine at a time when we really didn't feel like laughing.
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I had my last bottle of this last night and I am sorry to say this has faded a bit. Well, perhaps faded is not a good descriptor, it's traveled in to the land of funk. I'd splash decanted this and poured right away. It wasn't too great out of the bottle like that, so I let it sit a while and, at about the 90 minute mark, it had come around. The weird smells I was getting out reminded me of decayed straw and charred gritle with a little brettiness thrown in (not much) or so I thought. This all did blow off and revealed a better wine than it was when I intoially poured it, but it's still not the 90, 91 pointer I liked from before. This time I'd rate it at maybe 87 pts.
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Taken straight from the wine fridge as the planned claret was corked. An immediately charming nose of honeysuckle, acacia and licorice. Similar in many ways to the 99 La turque consumed at our swiss offline. On the palate noticeable tannin and some acidity, but a rich, bramble and honeyed fruit. Long and slightly jammy, but good structure. Enormously enjoyable and a great QPR.
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($37) Gorgeous wine - The nose wafts lovely apricot flavors intertwined beautifully with red berry liqueur. The palate is medium-to-full bodied with a nice edge of acidity to keep it interesting and a big mouthful of raspberry and blackberry fruit. Sense of retronasal complexity I didn't spend much time contemplating. Nice.
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($37) 95% Shiraz, 5% Viognier. 14.5% alcohol. Apricot, shoe polish, stone fruit, ancho chiles, and strawberries on the nose. Smells exotic. Deeply colored and rather thick looking in the glass. Ripe fruit. Medium-full bodied with decent concentration. Bit less complex on the palate.
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8/28/2023 - smctipton wrote: 91 Points
This wine has always amazed. Four bottles over the last two months. Bought on release and cellared at 52 degrees for 20 years. Muted nose. While the Viognier contribution to the nose is gone, the silky texture and saturated dark ruby color remains. Fruit faded somewhat, but silky tannins and mouthwatering acidity make this a balanced joy to dink...still. One bottle left, and on to the 2002.
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4/3/2020 - SineQuaNon Likes this wine: 90 Points
I am sort of surprised to see four recent notes - 2018 to 2020 - as this I would consider a 'mid range' d'Arenberg a level below the Dead Arm, Coppermine Road and Ironstone Pressings, which are all very age worthy. I am equally surprised to see >300 bottles still remaining in peoples cellars. In my case, I somehow forgot it in corner of the cellar, otherwise I'd probably have consumed it many years ago. Fortunately, my cellar is cool, and this wines ageability has completely exceeded my expectations! A great, fully mature and thus complex wine with rich body and intense aromatics. Depechemoroder describes it excellently below. If you're one of those with bottles remaining, I'd recommend checking in and see, what you think. To my taste and prefenrence it is fully mature and will not improce from this point.
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1/3/2020 - depechemoroder Likes this wine: 90 Points
In a lovely mature place. Leather and prunes with some smoky intensity and an old country house feel. Plush and round, this wavers between old elegance and something a bit chunkier. Tannins are faint, but there is balance. Good with stews.
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10/31/2018 - Gdcrsmith Likes this wine: 90 Points
Excited to taste as had been in storage for a while. V fruity. Immediately accessible. Can’t decide if just fruity or had real backbone. Seemed delicious.
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2/25/2018 - mpdonnel wrote: 87 Points
I think past prime, but my wife liked it to my surprise. To me it tasted like fruit stew, with no structure and not much acidity left, very flabby. Not bad, just very one dimensional and not to my liking.
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9/12/2015 - wine4ever Likes this wine: 91 Points
By far, the best showing of this wine I've had. I guess it just needed some time to get itself together. Mature wine, tannins resolved, dark plum color, dark fruits, eucalpytus, oak and licorice, long finish. Full bodied and smooth. Nose a bit muted, and a touch of heat still drop the score a couple notches.
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8/6/2015 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 91 Points
richest wine if the evening - full of blackberry liquor and vibrant minerality. Hard to believe this is 14 years old.
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6/8/2013 - Kaerhoeg Likes this wine: 89 Points
Still very powerfull wine. Aged well. Tobacco and coffee in the nose.
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2/13/2013 - brokedown palace Likes this wine: 89 Points
Aged very well. Luscious and very refinded for a bold shiraz. Lots, or berry hint of coffee
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9/8/2012 - folsomarndt wrote: 89 Points
Deep purple teeth staining, jammy fruit, with smooth tannins, medium length finish and enjoyable shiraz. But a ton of sediment, so would recommend decanting.
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7/5/2012 - wine4ever wrote: 85 Points
Hot and heavy. A bit gamey. It did open up though after about an hour and became more pleasant....the crowd finished it. Not the best showing for this wine. Drink now with a decant.
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3/26/2012 - kenv wrote: 78 Points
Hot and out of balance. Disappointing. Ripe fruit, but alcoholic.
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2/14/2012 - ndt wrote: 91 Points
Better than the 2000. Oak on the nose at first, then well integrated. Still nice on the second night
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9/9/2011 - Faffenheim wrote:
Blackberry, coffee and pepper nose. Characteristic McLaren Vale big Shiraz softened by the Viognier. Starts dry but long finish with velvety tannins. Would benefit from cellaring for a few more years
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1/14/2011 - gthelen wrote: 91 Points
After 1 hr decant: juicy, jammy, new world with low tannins. Easy to like.
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1/8/2010 - jamscreator wrote: 92 Points
Absolutely better than the previous bottle. Viognier added to this wine creates a mellowness to this fantastic wine that will keep you back. Sweeter than a 100% Shiraz, this wine is prime with blackberry, tobacco and sweet cherry flavors. I just love this wine. Love it!!
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12/26/2009 - Vinecon wrote: 92 Points
a delicious combination. shiraz power with viogner to tone down the excess. brings out apricot flavors along with shiraz usual measure of black fruits and pepper. This wing is far from past its peak--good for another 4-5 years.
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12/17/2009 - borneman wrote:
Still young and fresh. Drinking very well.
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11/2/2009 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - Shiraz-Viognier (Alio's, Surry Hills): [cork, 14.5%] {Stephen} Only the second vintage of this label I believe, and probably less extreme than some of its successors. An aged, raisiny nose, with burnt molasses, stewed fruits and charcoal notes. Smells better than it reads! The palate is dry, with soft oak and tannins, medium-bodied weight and a general impression of luscious fruit-cake shiraz flavours, instead of shoveling obvious voignier characters down your throat, which is all to the good, but it’s rather let down by a hot, almost spirity finish. Pity. Only likely to become less balanced with time, so get into it.
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5/25/2009 - amred wrote: 90 Points
Initially disappointing. It was our sense the wine was a little ripe and past it's prime. It was smooth, but lacking in the usual pepper, spice and fruit-forward nature. However...on the second day, the nose was richer and the pepper, tannins and fruit were much more evident. These are, however, not going to improve with further age in the bottle. Fruits seemed somewhat raspberry in nature, elements of tar or leather and slight earthy nature not evident when previously consumed.
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3/1/2009 - vanpe003 wrote: 91 Points
Impromptu White Burgundy Tasting; 2/28/2009-3/1/2009 (Lake Elmo): I really enjoy this, though truth be told, it probably suffers a bit from not being adequately prepped (stored upside down, should've allowed a week or so for the sediment to settle back to the bottom). That said, this is a nice bottle of wine that appears to be at its peak. Medium bodied, it's nicely balanced on the palate, with a nice amount of food friendly structure/acidity still remaining.
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12/26/2008 - Vinacull wrote: 89 Points
Last bottle, and I'm sad I opened it because this can easily go a few more years if cellared properly. Decant and pour. Color is very dark red verging on black. Probably should have filtered it due to significant sediment. Medium-full body. I was hoping it would show some age, but none was apparent other than a slight brown tinge at the rim. This is the first fruit bomb we've had in a few weeks, so it really stands out. Explosive nose of blackberry essence and blackberry pie, and a little pepper and soy sauce --- sadly no floral component detected. Floods the palate with teeth-staining blackberry, cream, earth and pepper. Lots of chewy extract, and toward the end of the bottle the bitter sediment in the finish contrasts the sweetness of the fruit. The price for this 3-4 years ago was $18, but even if you're paying a few dollars more for bottle aging, it is still a very good QPR.
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12/19/2008 - jvogel wrote:
Loved this. Rich raspberry, hot cherry pie nose allied to very refined, velvety tannin. Licorice lockdown, some honeysuckle notes (presumably from the Viognier), and just beautiful berry flavors hitting all the right spots. WOTN.
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12/17/2008 - jamscreator wrote: 89 Points
Hadn't planned on decanting for 90+ minutes, but it worked out well for the benefit of this wine. I have been a d'Arenberg fan for about 20 months, and this wine reinforces why. While not necessary a spendid buy for the dollar, this very dark wine presented blackberry, sweet cherry pipe tobacco and pepper on the nose and on the palate. Quite tanic and a shorter finish than I had expected. Still quite good.
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10/10/2008 - chbeaumont wrote: 85 Points
Very deep colour; bursting with fruit, bright, showy, that archetypal 'sunshine in a bottle'; bursting with gobs of ripe fruit, enough acidity; overbearing. Better than rank, undernourished wines of old; but there is a happy mid-way.
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7/31/2008 - Whine-oh wrote: 91 Points
Very enjoyable, had at Farmhouse Cafe w/Julia... Spread the joy to the server, owner, as well as the staff.. Bouquet of Dark fruits, floral, big nose, inviting... Blueberry pie filling, dark fruits on the palate upfront... midpalate of subtle earthiness, no bitterness, mellow tanins, maybe a little vanilla, good lengthy finish.. very polished, seemed to have lots of life left in it.
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6/20/2008 - FeloniousMonk wrote: 94 Points
Simply great stuff. Very aromatic, with pepper, flowers, and a little licorice. A virtual cornucopia of berries and cherries in the mouth, backed up by still-large tannins and a streak of spicy black pepper. I'm going on a mission to acquire some more of this wine.
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6/20/2008 - tonsta wrote: 88 Points
Not bad, definitely getting towards the end of in its drinking window.
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6/17/2008 - pgordon62 wrote: 88 Points
Jammy black fruits, white pepper, kirsch, a touch of grilled herbs and a floral edge. Smooth and dense but not heavy. The peppery finish shows just a little heat. Enjoyable but lacks individuality and energy. Seems to be in the prime drinking window with well integrated oak and less obvious alcohol compared to a couple of years ago.
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3/24/2008 - bon vivant wrote:
Very nice & balanced -there is a lot going on in this bottle with dark fruit dominating but not over the top -good structure & finish should be good for a while to come -try a 2002 next time.
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12/23/2007 - Winevestor wrote: 91 Points
Drunk in a wine tasting with good bordeaux, rhone and priorat. The wine stood up well and for some was the wine of the night. Still has a tannic edge cloaked in the fruit. A lot of oak showing.
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11/23/2007 - Winevestor wrote: 91 Points
Great bottle of wine. Big black fruit, wth some toasty oak. However, bigger tannic backbone than most other Shiraz, even with a bitter edige. Should be left for another couple of years
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10/1/2007 - honest bob wrote: 93 Points
Magnificent cherry scent on opening; excellent development, after 3 hours best taste. Sweetness now milder, complete, excellent. Obviously the other bottles were just too young. This wine has several years potential. With that in mind: 93P
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8/22/2007 - Winevestor wrote: 89 Points
This wine was drinking better a couple of years ago. Should be left to breathe for a while. Black berried fruit, with a touch of soy. Hollowness on the front and middle palate. Viognier throttles the wine back.
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8/13/2007 - N2Vin wrote: 88 Points
A lot of pepper in this one, both white and black, spices abound, tannins are strong with great raspberry and black cherry. Oak is showing with a nice balance on the finish. Good stuff
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6/1/2007 - honest bob wrote: 89 Points
Big, fat, too sweet and heavy for my taste 89P
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5/5/2007 - slon wrote:
Prunes and alcohol. Really a disaster. Was this a flawed bottle?
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2/19/2007 - Stirling wrote: 90 Points
Decanted an hour before serving. Wonderful aroma of blueberries at first, morphing into blackberry after a time. None of the Viognier component was discernable (to me, anyway) on the nose but it was in the body as it leavened the fuller Shiraz component. Paired well with lasagna. Medium bodied with tannins and acidity nicely balanced by ripe fruit. Leaning toward elegant - a nice change from the power school of Aussie Shiraz.
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1/2/2007 - tonsta wrote: 89 Points
Opened 45mins prior to drinking. Lovely soft fruit flavours, good oak integration. May have benefited from decanting because the wine seemed to open up a little by the second glass. Not quite as good as I remember though...
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12/1/2006 - honest bob wrote: 89 Points
Fat blackberry juice fruit bomb; too sweet at this stage 89P(++)
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11/17/2006 - robmatic wrote:
Drinking nicely. Tried the leftovers the following morning and it had opened up well with no sign of oxidation. Suggest long decanting for best results.
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9/24/2006 - Winetex wrote: flawed
Corked. Yuk.
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8/25/2006 - pgordon62 wrote: 87 Points
Very Zin like. High tone, stoney, jammy fruit. Shows the a strong floral edge and some alcohol heat on the nose. Bright red fruits on the palate. The finish shows citrus and a little hot. Nice enough but my palate has moved away from these wines recently.
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3/21/2006 - Mike V wrote: 87 Points
This style is not for me.
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3/16/2006 - Tom_B wrote: 91 Points
This wine still has a dark, deep ruby color with hints of purple. Aromas of mint, eucalytus and dark, dried fruit on the nose. Plenty of acidity still exists in this medium to full bodied wine, with flavors of blackberry and plum on the palate. A lingering acidity leads to a medium length finish.
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2/9/2006 - pgordon62 wrote: 91 Points
Jammy berry and black cherry, tar, bourbon and peach stone on the nose. Excellent fruit and structure on the palate and finish. No sign of heat. Ready now and should improve over the next 1-2 years. This is higher tone and riper than the '02 version.
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1/13/2006 - Winetex wrote:
We really didn't care for this wine. This is a stylistic prefrence and I suppose it might be an appealing flavor profile for some but we thought it was a waste of calories (WOCs). Mr. Winetex said he thought the flavors included "stilton" cheese. Ewwww. Poured out.
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1/8/2006 - pgordon62 wrote: flawed
Corked.
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12/1/2005 - honest bob wrote: 92 Points
Enormous in every possible sense, excellent 92P
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11/29/2005 - carlwhat wrote: 87 Points
i suppose this wine is okay. it took a while to open up; when it did it had aromas of blackberries. deep dark colour. but it was lacking in the mid-palate. definately an oaky taste to it... i find the finish a tad off...
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5/6/2005 - JFish wrote:
No improvement over the past 6 months. Lots of fruit but more oak than I can take. The oak intensified the longer the bottle was open. However, others that enjoy this Aussie style liked this wine. Thankfully, my last bottle of the 01. Now, what to do with the 02s?
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4/20/2005 - prafferty wrote: 92 Points
This wine, for my palate is progressing great...only problem is I just drank my last bottle. Not nearly as jammy as upon release, it's really starting to throttle back and enter a nice phase with moderate complexity both in the nose on the palate. Floral, a hint of blueberries and a little bit of game. Long finish, outstanding wine.
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4/12/2005 - onholiday wrote: flawed
CORKED :(
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4/3/2005 - NobleRot wrote: 90 Points
This was a very good wine. Wondering if there was bottle variation since others here detected some imbalance. I found this wine to be more restrained than your typical aussie shiraz. Acidity was good, along with tons of fruit. I just love the shiraz/viognier blend.
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2/5/2005 - GlenD wrote: 86 Points
Lot's of acidity, some funk, less fruit than I remember.
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12/16/2004 - JFish wrote: 86 Points
The fruit is still there in spades but I just could not get past the oak. It overwhelmed everything the wine had to offer. No improvement on day 2. I sure don't look forward to my remaining bottle - may be a nice gift for a non-oakphobe since it is that time of year.
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11/2/2004 - DianeR wrote:
Election day - the perfect wine. Impressions were good, and I really like the Viognier in the blend - it seems to mellow some of the harsh syrah flavor. Good, enjoyable wine at a time when we really didn't feel like laughing.
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10/1/2004 - Pool Boy wrote: 87 Points
I had my last bottle of this last night and I am sorry to say this has faded a bit. Well, perhaps faded is not a good descriptor, it's traveled in to the land of funk. I'd splash decanted this and poured right away. It wasn't too great out of the bottle like that, so I let it sit a while and, at about the 90 minute mark, it had come around. The weird smells I was getting out reminded me of decayed straw and charred gritle with a little brettiness thrown in (not much) or so I thought. This all did blow off and revealed a better wine than it was when I intoially poured it, but it's still not the 90, 91 pointer I liked from before. This time I'd rate it at maybe 87 pts.
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5/31/2004 - CharlesM wrote: 92 Points
Taken straight from the wine fridge as the planned claret was corked. An immediately charming nose of honeysuckle, acacia and licorice. Similar in many ways to the 99 La turque consumed at our swiss offline. On the palate noticeable tannin and some acidity, but a rich, bramble and honeyed fruit. Long and slightly jammy, but good structure. Enormously enjoyable and a great QPR.
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3/4/2004 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
($37) Gorgeous wine - The nose wafts lovely apricot flavors intertwined beautifully with red berry liqueur. The palate is medium-to-full bodied with a nice edge of acidity to keep it interesting and a big mouthful of raspberry and blackberry fruit. Sense of retronasal complexity I didn't spend much time contemplating. Nice.
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10/5/2002 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 85 Points
Big, dark blackish purple. OK nose. Attractive. Big and fruity, but not in-your-face power. Good.
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10/2/2002 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
($37) 95% Shiraz, 5% Viognier. 14.5% alcohol. Apricot, shoe polish, stone fruit, ancho chiles, and strawberries on the nose. Smells exotic. Deeply colored and rather thick looking in the glass. Ripe fruit. Medium-full bodied with decent concentration. Bit less complex on the palate.
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