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GT Wine Tope Tasting Barossa Shiraz
8 Danks street, Sydney
Tasted July 4, 2018 by chatters with 273 views
Introduction
Another Peter Bourne tasting, this time with a selection of Barossa Shiraz…
Flight 1 - Bracket one - Southern Grounds (5 notes)
Nothing to truly excite here.
Red
2016 After Five Wine Co Shiraz
blackberry and cherry, perfumed, but also meaty with a little sweet spice. Tight, dense, grippy tannins, fruit a little more sour on the palate. Hmm.
Red
2015 Trevor Jones Shiraz Belle-Terroir Sorciére Sauvage
Slightly dusty, baked earth, savoury blackberry, a little spice. Thick, dense, chewy concentrated tannins, quite savoury. Medium plus length introduces alcohol heat. Meh.
Red
2013 Burge Family Shiraz Draycott
Red and black berry, slight herbaceous notes, meaty, slightly reductive, a little toast and cedar. Fruit is sweeter on the palate, lighter palate weight. Juicy with gritty drying tannins. Hmm.
Red
2014 St Hugo Shiraz Barossa
Toast, cream over muted black fruit berries, very slight mint, cedar, wet, tangy, black fruits, softly tannic and a little sour on the finish. Nah.
Red
2012 Jacob's Creek Shiraz Centenary Hill
ripe blackberry and cherry, sweet fruit, spice…Juicy, wet, fleshy, talc textured tannins…niceish.
Flight 2 - Bracket two - Northern Grounds (11 notes)
the most concentrated fruit was to be found in this bracket for me. A couple of the wines were pretty handy: The tscharke gnadenfrei, torbreck and standish...
Red
2015 Tomfoolery Shiraz Artful Dodger Seppeltsfield
reductive and slightly jammy toasted black berry, sweet spice, a little vanilla…it's tangy, juicy and more restrained on the palate, firm drying but quite silky tannins. Okay.
Red
2013 Epsilon Shiraz 1994 Greenock
Concentrated red and black berry fruit, very slight jubey notes as well, some lightweight peppery spice. Juicy, tangy, quite black fruit here; touches of blackcurrant as well. Chalky tannins. Okay.
Red
2016 Tscharke Shiraz Marananga Gnadenfrei Vineyard
slightly meaty, savoury, wild blackberry, a little earthy as well. Sweetly spiced. In the mouth it's juicy with jubey black fruit, finishes a little spicy with chalky, tight, tannins. Young but pleasant.
Red
2015 Two Hands Shiraz Bella's Garden
Over-ripe blackberry and plum, touches of prunes as well, plenty of sweet and savoury spice, cedar, cream. Thick and almost off dry, tight black fruits and tannins with slight peppery spice. Big. Not for me.
Red
2016 Torbreck Shiraz The Struie
After the last wine this is medium minus intensity aroma showing black berry, herbs, slightly meaty notes, peppery spice…nice nose. Sweet and savoury black fruit on the palate, floury tannins, young and shows promise.
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Red
2015 Hentley Farm Shiraz The Beast
Concentrated slightly reductive blackberry, rich fruit cake nose with sweet spice as well. And so it proves on the palate; overly ripe with tight tannic grip, chocolate, cream and alcohol heat on the finish. Meh.
Red
2015 The Standish Wine Company Shiraz The Schubert Theorem
Meaty and savoury, slight farmyard and almost earthy over blackberry & cherry and polished cedar. On the palate concentrated fruit but juicy, savoury with touches of yeast extract and oddly stealthy tannins that start as a low background hum and grows considerably more gritty and persistent lend the fruit lots of length. Young but very good.
Red
2015 Yalumba Shiraz Paradox
a little wild ferment funkiness over wild blackberry, sweet spice, smells 'fresh'….it's juicy and equally fresh on the palate, pretty jubey fruit, soft tannins, difficult to spit. Very approachable.
Red
2015 Kalleske Shiraz Johann Georg
Reductive concentrated, slightly anonymous, sweet black fruit, spice. And so it proves on the palate. Nah.
Red
2015 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 150 Marananga
Densely concentrated savoury black fruits and polished oak. A little toast, caramel and sweet spice. On the palate it's a little sharp initially then sweet black fruit and a bucket of unwieldy, brutally, tight tannin closes things down though a little fruit persists in an alcoholic haze. Ouch.
Red
2014 Teusner Shiraz The FG Righteous
Biscuit, slight toast, sweet spice, over blackberry and a slight saline note. Juicy and a little jubey with plenty of spice married to the black fruit. Tannins are gritty but quite controlled or, even, muted. Hmm.
Flight 3 - Bracket three - Central Grounds (8 notes)
I'd expected more from the Spinifex and less from the Old Block...That Hewitson was pretty good as well...far better than the last time I tried it...
Red
2014 Saltram Shiraz No.1
Biscuit, blackberry, sweet spice, a little 'wet', a little cream. On the palate black fruits married to tight tannins. I'd say monolithic but that seems to imply impressive bulk…this is more, ahh, monolithic lite. Simple.
Red
2014 Spinifex Shiraz Bete Noir
Meaty, gamey, wild ferment, whole berry prettiness to the fruit, savoury green peppercorn spice. More of the same on the palate but there is an imbalance between the sharpness of the acidity and jubey sweetness of the fruit. Tannins are chalky. All travels long. Hmm.
Red
2016 Schwarz Wine Company Shiraz The Schiller
Slightly jubey, blackberry cordial, a smidge of cream, toast, butter and sweet spice. Concentrated, sweet, black fruit married to gritty tannins on the palate. Meh.
Red
2013 St Hallett Shiraz Old Block
Initially a slight medicinal note, savoury berries, some cedary spice and biscuit. It's juicy and fleshy with black berries, spice and soft, talc textured tannins. Rather nice.
Red
2013 Yelland & Papps Shiraz Divine
flawed
Ugh, smells both sweet and sour fruit, some Asian five spice. I don't really want to put this in my mouth. Must be brave…Hmm, tastes like what I think wood glue would taste like. Can't pick the flaw (comments please) but I'm going to call this as flawed - I don't believe this wine is meant to taste like this. FLAW
Red
2013 Wolf Blass Shiraz Platinum Label
Blackberry, cream, slight vanilla and sweet spiced backed by baked earth & clay…Juicy with plenty of concentrated blackberry fruit then plentiful chalky tannins come to the party though the fruit persists. Elegant it aint but okay in an old school way.
Red
2014 Hewitson Shiraz Falkenberg
really quite jammy black fruit on the nose, concentrated, blacked by cream, vanilla and a little baked & sweet spice. Hmm, it's juicier and less overtly concentrated on the palate, tannins re controlled and integrated and this is, though still young, rather good.
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Red
2016 Glaetzer Shiraz Amon-Ra Barossa Valley
slightly jubey concentrated red and black berries with a touch of smoke, cedar and some black coffee. Quite sweet and over-concentrated on the palate though with gritty tannins and a lack of freshness. Not today thanks.
Flight 4 - Bracket four - Eden Valley (8 notes)
Probably the most interesting bracket for me with the most elegant wines...still very hit and miss though...The Max & Me and the Eden Hall were my winners here...
Red
2016 St Hallett Shiraz Garden Of Eden
slightly reductive, slightly anonymous dusty black fruit and a little chalky minerality. Tightly tannic with sweet black fruits. Meh.
Red
2015 Michael Hall Shiraz Flaxman's Valley
Slightly rubbery black fruits, quite woody as well, earthy with a little sweet spice. And so it proves on the palate, finishes a little short, tannins are quite drying and gritty textured. Meh.
Red
2013 Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone
concentrated & polished black berry, cherry and oak with vanilla & sweet spice. And concentrated and polished black berry, cherry and oak on the palate with vanilla cream on the finish and big chewy tannins carrying this along. Bit of a beast but balanced old school fun.
Red
2016 Torzi Matthews Shiraz "Schist Rock"
Wet, jubey and toasty blackberry and bramble, a little peppery spice with a smidge of cream & butter. Less pleasant on the palate. Gritty, course tannins shut down the sweet fruit quite quickly. Nah.
Red
2015 Max & Me Shiraz Boongarrie Vineyard
Jubey whole berry fruit, farty wild ferment, a touch of bonfire ash with perfumed notes almost rose petal and some meaty spices. Juicy, peppery, black hued fruits, tight with a little flour textured tannins balanced but with some alcohol warmth on the finish. Mmm, pretty nice.
Red
2014 Flaxman Wines Shiraz Estate
clay and fresh mud, concentrated black fruit, a little ink and black tea on the nose. It's juicy but the fruit is kind of too sweet for the palate, perhaps there is a touch of residual sugar here? Meh.
Red
2015 Eden Hall Shiraz Block 4
Muted, meaty black fruit with sweet spices and toast on the nose but on the palate this is all blackberry compote, very pure fruit, long and luscious. Bravo at this QPR. Yum.
Red
2016 Head Wines Shiraz The Redhead
Medium minus intensity aromas of biscuit, red fruit, a little spice on the nose…In the mouth it's wet with a tiny amount of fruit then chamois soft tannins. This lightweight offering would probably be absolutely fine by itself but at the end of this tasting it's heavily outgunned. Additionally at $120 I'd by the Ogier Cote Rotie Village which is, for me, a considerably better wine.
Closing
A couple of things struck me about this tasting, firstly the more controlled use of oak and secondly the less massive wines than I would have expected to see out of the Barossa. Some thoughtful wine making has gone into these. Very good tasting.