| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.6 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 206 notes) - hiding notes with no text |
| | Tasted by red.red.vino on 3/10/2023 & rated 94 points: In the decanter 3 hours prior to drinking, still holding up strong 5 hrs in on the final glass. Big, powerful and ripe berry driven, with that distinct Barossa nose. It just kept powering on, incredible intensity and length. My last of these, end of era #sadface. Doubt you’ll find any other 15% wine this old with so much fruit and balance. Enjoy now, don’t risk it.
High quality Barossa in a glass. (862 views) |
| | Tasted by empire80 on 2/25/2023: Slightly over-developed compared to my last bottle; still good but drink soon (733 views) |
| | Tasted by tbullion on 2/10/2022: Drank at Marilyn’s restaurant (1454 views) |
| | Tasted by bubblewitz on 12/3/2021 & rated 90 points: Blackberry, berry, plum (1685 views) |
| | Tasted by gbejjani on 8/20/2021 & rated 91 points: https://youtu.be/Q7dDVEXxjTU (1977 views) |
| | Tasted by barrkel on 11/26/2020 & rated 92 points: Fruit has faded a little, compared with what I recall when reading my previous note. Thick, rich, very good. Not two-toned at all. (1930 views) |
| | Tasted by oldwines on 7/19/2020 & rated 92 points: This was double decanted before taking to a friend’s beach house to have with dinner of grilled spice-rubbed top sirloin cap roast. Nice pairing as this is a big wine that needs some big flavor to counterbalance it. Opaque garnet purple color. Nose is spice box, ripe blackberries, black currant, pomegranate and ripe black plum. Palate is rich and reflects the nose with some cedar, chocolate, leather, eucalyptus and with some slight heat noticeable. Finish has raisin or prune at the end of a long and layered aftertaste. Plenty of life left and little chance this will lose its fruit forward nature anytime soon. I would say this will continue to be interesting for another decade or possibly more. (2526 views) |
| | Tasted by jdbooth on 4/27/2020 & rated 93 points: Completely forgot I had this in the cellar and even dreaded opening it since I expected it to be over the hill.
I was dead wrong.
This wine shows beautifully and if anything, seems a little on the youthful side, though it has obviously mellowed over the years.
Lovely lush fruit. Dark ruby color with longer finish than I'd expected. Abundant sediment. Wonderful balance - not hot at all. Hedonistic in a good way.
Consumed over three days with no degradation from start to finish. I didn't particularly think it would have benefited from a decant. (2248 views) |
| | Tasted by TomekSz on 2/22/2020 & rated 95 points: Very good wine. At first ripe plum and cherry, with time blackcurrant appeared. Liquorice from the beginning, lovely vanilla flavours. Nice sweetness. It could still easily be stored for a couple of years. (2063 views) |
| | Tasted by Vinnut on 1/27/2020 & rated 90 points: Dark reddish-purple in color with slight clearing at the edges. Full, forward & attractive nose of ripe, somewhat jammy (overripe?), fruit aromas of cherries, blackberries & black plums with overtones of earthy/dusty & herbal notes , licorice & pepper, minerals, hints of vanilla/oak & a touch of VA in the background. Full bodied with a very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, jammy, ripe fruit flavors of sweet dark cherries, blackberries & dark plums with herbs, spices, minerals & a hint of vanilla/oak. Drinks quite well at present with decanting & airing but at 16 years of age, it is close to or at its peak of development, so drink up! (2132 views) |
| | Tasted by red.red.vino on 1/18/2020 & rated 93 points: Been a while since I popped a Bella 04. As most Two Hands, sweet berry bomb upon opening. Ridiculously sweet. It took just over 3hrs in the decanter for the sweetness to settle, 4hrs for me to start tucking in, arguably tad longer probably needed. At 15% this is a big wine, holding its alcohol well through it’s masking ripeness. That being said, it is still a sweet full throttle Barossa shiraz, ripe, plummy fruits, a little aniseed to it, holding its ground well. Life in it yet, but it in its window and can’t get better, drink now over the next couple years. (1759 views) |
| | Tasted by oldwines on 12/25/2019 & rated 92 points: Double decanted at 3pm then taken to a friend’s house. Dark garnet color. Nice nose with blackberry, chocolate and cedar. Palate is velvety smooth, rich and flavorful with black fruit and licorice most prominent but still quite lively with bright acidity. Nice long rich finish. (1855 views) |
| | Tasted by texaswinelover on 4/20/2019: Past it’s prime. Fruit fading, acidity out of balance. Wish I’d opened a couple of years ago. (1969 views) |
| | Tasted by red.red.vino on 4/6/2019 flawed bottle: Cork taint (1796 views) |
| | Tasted by barrkel on 2/17/2019 & rated 92 points: Underwhelming straight out of the bottle, after it warms up it gains hints of bacon and some depth, with rich unctuous black fruit still coming through, with some menthol still evident, and tailing off into stems. A bit two-toned with age - the secondary and tertiary meaty flavours don't fully integrate with the fruit, which lead the palate to expect something more primary. Not sure that's a criticism of the wine, but rather expectations. Very good on its own terms IMO. (1852 views) |
| | Tasted by IndyTom on 2/1/2019 & rated 91 points: Opened and decanted for about an hour. Still plump and jammy. Tannins are completely integrated, but there is still quite a bit of dark fruit. A bit too viscous for my taste, but others commented on how well they liked it. (1931 views) |
| | Tasted by a4cb on 12/2/2018 & rated 95 points: cork had seepage almost to the end (1977 views) |
| | Tasted by Tarokun on 11/9/2018: With wine group (1702 views) |
| | Tasted by a4cb on 10/17/2018 & rated 94 points: Need time to open up (1773 views) |
| | Tasted by roasted hill on 8/13/2018: Decanted 1/2 hr. Consistent notes and a pleasure with sirloin. (1957 views) |
| | Tasted by Hamersly on 5/18/2018: Agree with others who enjoy this wine that tannins are fully resolved and acidity remains, but this profile strikes me as over the hill. (2227 views) |
| | Tasted by roasted hill on 2/10/2018: Decanted an hour. Dark purple. Moderate legs. Red raspberry and blackberry, with black pepper hints and spice box. Tannins have resolved and the acidity is supportive as a food wine or alone. (2271 views) |
| | Tasted by brianofthevine on 12/29/2017 & rated 93 points: Jammy red cherry, raspberry, and pomegranate fruit up front. Has a nice core and flavor of blueberry jam, sweet spices, and white pepper. Lot of complex flavors going on here in the mid-palate. Nice acidity and finish. (2292 views) |
| | Tasted by empire80 on 12/29/2017 & rated 92 points: Needs some time in the decanter. Dense black fruit, thick tar, hint of treacle, black pepper, quite a lot going on, no hurry to drink. (2233 views) |
| | Tasted by yipen on 10/31/2017: very fruity but not much heat detected now. Drink up it starts to decay now. (2312 views) |
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