2002 Glaetzer Shiraz Amon-Ra Barossa Valley

Community Tasting Notes (106) Avg Score: 92.8 points

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  3/6/2024 - Mark1npt Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Served blind by our host Ken......part of his double dip of Amon Ra wines.
  
  This looked smelled and drank so similarly to the McClaren Vale entry. Maybe just one point less on the nose and palate, but so similar. It was easy to pick out that this was the same winery, vintage and winemaker.....unfortunately, I though they were both Cali Syrahs! I've never had 20+ yo Aussies that smelled and tasted like this! Thanks, Ken!!!

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  2/16/2024 - Grangelady Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Opened it for my birthday and shared with friends who are not used to drinking wines of this caliber and they were truly impressed. The Aussie Shirazs are among my favorite wines and this one didn’t disappoint. The younger ones are big and bold - this one had mellowed a bit, very smooth and I didn’t decant it. It was ready to drink right away. I am glad I have another bottle.

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  7/16/2022 - wine4ever Likes this wine:

  In one word....superb. What a delight. Number 11 of our case. All of them have been fantastic. The wine is fully mature and at or slightly past peak - no need to wait any longer. Decanted and drank over 5 hours....great the whole time. It had tons of sediment, but what was left was super silky, smooth, luscious, and just amazingly delicious. Layers of flavor, great structure, super long finish. No rush to consume, but I highly doubt they will improve, so enjoy one of these if you have them. Cheers!

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  2/19/2022 - KevinS wrote: 96 Points

  Haven't posted a tasting note in years, but this bottle moved me. Not nearly as big and overdone as I was worried this might be, given peak Aussie Shiraz. Incredible flavors of chocolate, cherry, and minerals. Big, ripe, delicious and yet not unbalanced. Surprisingly fresh and alive for 20 years of age -- color doesn't suggest more than 5-8. Super long finish, and I only wish I had another. Bravo!

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  1/27/2022 - forceberry wrote: 95 Points

  100% old-vine Shiraz from 50-130 yo vineyards in the Ebenezer sub-district. Fermented in open-top fermentors, aged for 15 months in new American oak barrels. Bottled unfiltered. 14,5% alcohol. Tasted in a 2015-2002 Amon-Ra vertical.
  
  Quite dense, rather opaque blackish-red color with an evolved brick-red hue. Quite powerful but also wonderfully fragrant and pretty classically styled nose of wizened cherries, some perfumed floral tones, a little bit of blackberry marmalade, light evolved notes of savory meaty character, a hint of mint jelly and a touch of petrol. The wine is dense, extracted and chewy on the palate with a full body and complex flavors of wizened dark berries and pruney dark fruit, some dried red cherry tones, light minty notes, a little bit of ferrous blood, a hint of meaty umami, a touch of gravelly minerality and subtly oaky nuances of caramel and toasted wood. The overall impression is very firm, structured and still a moderately tightly-knit, thanks to the high acidity and assertive, grippy tannins. The finish is concentrated, quite grippy and moderately evolved with very long and intense flavors of ripe blackcurrants and wizened blackberries, some evolved beef jerky tones, a little bit of minty greenness, light oaky notes of bittersweet dark chocolate, a hint of gravelly minerality and a touch of caramel.
  
  A stunning, powerful and muscular vintage of Amon-Ra that isn't as much about power, fruit and concentration as it is about structure and depth of flavor. Although the wine is undeniably a big bruiser of a wine, it didn't feel as huge and monolithic as the other vintages did, but instead came across as slightly lighter and less extracted in character with more emphasis on acidity, structure and finesse. Although the wine is showing some age and has already developed some tertiary characteristics, it is still relatively youthful for its age and at 20 years of age it still feels like the wine could improve easily for another 5-10 years. Most likely this wine will drink just fine for much, much longer. Easily the best vintage in our vertical, although I must admit that the 2010 vintage wasn't that far behind. Priced according to its quality at 75€.

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