2013 Toby Bekkers Syrah

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 93 points

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  9/27/2023 - Rote Kappelle Does not like this wine: 93 Points

  Weltschmerz is such a part of my life. Irony too. Both came together here.
  
  Having (gently, I hope) chipped a wine that a good friend was kind enough to pour for me, for what I felt were out of balance smoke, incense (rose and sandalwood) characters, guess what I got, in volume, from this wine?
  
  2013 was a very fine year throughout most, if not all of Oz. Bekkers have great vineyards, they give them a lot of care and they do emphasize quality of fruit. But in the Shiraz/Syrah, especially, I really feel they waste it with the oak treatment. What is especially disappointing about this is that the winemaker is French. When you are being buried alive in high char oak, how can you locate the terroir or even the quality of fruit (typicity, if you like) in the smog?
  
  There is some good fruit once you chainsaw your way through to the wine, but I just couldn't live with the high toned oak. If you think that in time the fruit will absorb it, I would say "Think again". On days 2 and 3 this was even oakier.
  
  Is this bad wine? No. Not by a long shot. The finish is long, intensity is great, there is freshness and if you can tolerate the overt bacon/charcuterie, smoke and incense then this is easily a wine in the 'Excellent' category and it may even be rated a little higher. There is good fruit to be found. Personally, I just can't take those oak characters.
  
  One area where I think one can, objectively raise a question is the tannin. I think the tannins are too oak driven - they have that grainy (as opposed to sandy) texture and I get no taste or texture pleasure from them. They are not over the top and they are not at risk of drying this wine out, but I think the really outstanding wines have outstanding tannin structure - tannins that you find yourself drawn too, that create architecture in the wine, not an asphalt highway.
  
  A painful review for me, as I feel very attached to the maker (they have always treated me very well). With fruit as good as they have and talent that they have, I just feel they could do something really fantastic if they eased up on the planks. The fruit they have has a good core. My criticism actually comes from a place of real love. The score reflects my assessment of the wine, on what I hope is an objective basis; my comments reflect my subjective take.

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  12/2/2022 - peter.mancell@mfg.com.au Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Wonderful MV Shiraz!

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  4/27/2020 - peter.mancell@mfg.com.au Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Absolutely super McLaren Vale Syrah from a shoulder vintage.
  Great dark fruit, lovely mouth feel and beautifully integrated tannins.
  Long and sustained finish. Looking for to the later vintages ....when they’ve matured enough!

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  4/19/2019 - JerM wrote: 93 Points

  The Great 2019 Easter Marathon!; 4/17/2019-4/26/2019 (Sydney): Ink, barnyard, ash, sweet berries. Layered. Concentration. Blue and violet. Deeply sweet. Sarsi
  Elegant!

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  1/18/2017 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:

  Dense, deep nose of blood plum, iron, tar and licorice. It has good depth of black fruits and some iron and saline. The finish is quite savoury with notes of graphite and scorched earth and there's a kiss of breezy acidity keeping everything fresh.

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