Cellared since release 20 years ago. Has a T-cork which appears completely intact. Dark brown color. Technically flawed as there is a good dose of TCA here but beyond that I find the wine very unappealing. Sweet, medicinal, inadequate acidity, like cough syrup in taste and texture. The last bottle 10 years ago was better, and not just because of the TCA.
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Cork broke off when removing the screw-cork stopper. This is a very strange wine indeed - more in the line of a port. Color is dark soy sauce brown. The texture is extremely viscous. Quite a bit of alcohol and fruit cake on the nose. On the palate, burnt toffee and raisins, spice cake - lots of heat from the alcohol - a bit unbalanced and not altogether pleasant. No takers for a second pour - the rest went down the drain. Perhaps we should have held it over and seen if it improved on days 2/3.
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Desmond's Birthday Dinner (St Pierre, Singapore): Tasting this back-to-back with a De Bortoli Noble One really showed how good the Aussies are at making these Rutherglen style stickies - this was just that much more interesting, complex and, most of all, balanced. It had that uniquely dark and spicy Christmas cake nose, with black fruits, raisins and dried figs drizzled with molasses and littered with some dried rose petals and a deeper, meatier note. A smidgen of alcohol at the edges aside, it was an alluring bouquet. The palate was every bit as rich, or even richer than the other sweet wines on the table. In fact, it was positively viscous with unctuous flavours of dried figs and raisins wed to chocolate and spice as the wine moved through a moreish midpalate and into a long, mouthfilling finish. However, for all that monoltihic depth, the wine was actually very drinkable, blessed as it was with a nice fresh acidity that somehow kept it balanced and whole. Delicious stuff, and quite complete. Again, there was a little stain of alcohol right on the edge of the backpalate which distracted somewhat from the overall experience, but that aside, I enjoyed this quite a bit.
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5/28/2019 - dbg wrote:
Cellared since release 20 years ago. Has a T-cork which appears completely intact. Dark brown color. Technically flawed as there is a good dose of TCA here but beyond that I find the wine very unappealing. Sweet, medicinal, inadequate acidity, like cough syrup in taste and texture. The last bottle 10 years ago was better, and not just because of the TCA.
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11/2/2018 - retired_and_roving wrote: 84 Points
Cork broke off when removing the screw-cork stopper. This is a very strange wine indeed - more in the line of a port. Color is dark soy sauce brown. The texture is extremely viscous. Quite a bit of alcohol and fruit cake on the nose. On the palate, burnt toffee and raisins, spice cake - lots of heat from the alcohol - a bit unbalanced and not altogether pleasant. No takers for a second pour - the rest went down the drain. Perhaps we should have held it over and seen if it improved on days 2/3.
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8/1/2015 - chatters wrote:
Canberra, Beechworth & Rutherglen wine tour day two (Beechworth and Rutherglen): toffee, slight dusty and off - dirty glass? Drying tannin, more liquid toffee over fruit concentrate.
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1/20/2014 - graemeg wrote:
Rutherglen - Chambers & Campbells: {375ml, screwcap, 18%, A$100} Molasses, burnt sugar, apricot/marmalade. Sweet, smooth and almost unworldly. Medium weight, persistent. All length & depth.
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1/29/2013 - Paul S wrote: 93 Points
Desmond's Birthday Dinner (St Pierre, Singapore): Tasting this back-to-back with a De Bortoli Noble One really showed how good the Aussies are at making these Rutherglen style stickies - this was just that much more interesting, complex and, most of all, balanced. It had that uniquely dark and spicy Christmas cake nose, with black fruits, raisins and dried figs drizzled with molasses and littered with some dried rose petals and a deeper, meatier note. A smidgen of alcohol at the edges aside, it was an alluring bouquet. The palate was every bit as rich, or even richer than the other sweet wines on the table. In fact, it was positively viscous with unctuous flavours of dried figs and raisins wed to chocolate and spice as the wine moved through a moreish midpalate and into a long, mouthfilling finish. However, for all that monoltihic depth, the wine was actually very drinkable, blessed as it was with a nice fresh acidity that somehow kept it balanced and whole. Delicious stuff, and quite complete. Again, there was a little stain of alcohol right on the edge of the backpalate which distracted somewhat from the overall experience, but that aside, I enjoyed this quite a bit.
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