9/24/2023 - AlexGarner wrote:

Drinking well with detailed tangerine and yellow peach as the dominance flavors, good acid balance and no bitterness at all. Should keep another year or three.

6/27/2023 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Dark red, almost black with no hint of bricking. An earthy and vegetal nose with dark blue fruits and cake spice with a eucalyptus note. The palate is rich with super smooth tannins and a kick of alcohol but plenty of brambly fruit, leather and tar. This will go for a long time yet. Nice to see a reasonably priced Barossa Shiraz developing so well after 10 years.

1/4/2023 - AlexGarner wrote:

This wine is still so fresh and approachable with beautiful acidity and delicate tannins. I was very worried that this would be past it’s prime but it’s drinking beautifully and I wish this wasn’t my last bottle. The nose is full of black forest fruit and spice with a dark earthy finish and acidic/mineral balance.

9/27/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Beautiful raspberry and confectionary on the nose with a fresh fruit palate of red cherry and savory notes. Very very good.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): Cake and biscuits on the nose with a solid stone fruit hit, especially white peach. The palate is complex and ripe with a delicate spritz to finish it off.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): A meaty and peppery nose with plenty of blue fruit and a silky palate with a fantastic finish.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): Purple fruits and leather on the nose with a hint of leather and raspberry leaf. The palate is chock full of fine, chalky tannins.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): Black cherry and black pepper on the nose with cigar box that leads nicely into the chocolate and cedar palate.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): Beautiful older characteristics of kerosene balanced with the florals that you can see in the younger vintages of this wine. There is also a kind of furniture polish aspect to the nose which I really like. The palate is long and full of ripe fruits, especially stone fruit.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): A nose of green apple and grapefruit with a hint of apricot kernel. The palette is rich and balanced with the acid and mineral working together perfectly.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): This is very, very good with a big floral nose full of blossoms and with a kind of cake note. The palate is tight and focussed. This is great now and with so much going on I'm not sure how long it will keep.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): A very serious Semillon with a brioche nose that includes ripe lemons and other citrus. It has a big mouthfeel and the finish is ripe and crisp.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): A floral noes of honeysuckle and lemon with a delicate palate of crunchy acid. The finish is a bit short.

9/10/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Shaw Wines member's lounge tasting with Ryan and Alicia (Shaw Wines cellar door): The nose has a core of gooseberry, but there is plenty of citrus too, especially lemon. The palette is ripe and bright with a crunchy mouthfeel that starts with green apple then moves into a citrus and stone fruit finish with good small bubbles.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner wrote:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): A big chocolate nose with an edge of shellfish with a core of blue fruit and red berries. The palate is spice and delicate for such a big wine.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): Forest berries with a herbaceous, earthy notes and a cigar and blueberry palate with a milk chocolate finish.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): Cigar box and cedar on the nose with ripe, blue fruit and a minty and herbaceous palate.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): An earthy nose of underbrush with a dash of shellfish leading to a palate of grippy tannins, powerful fruit and chalky, long finish.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): A ripper capsicum and ripe red cherry on the nose with a delicate tannin palate featuring a dash of heat and spicy oak. Not quite fully balanced yet, but showing signs of greatness to come.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): A candied nose with red berries and a dry mineral palate that starts with delicate berry, but a short finish.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): Yellow stone fruit, especially peach on the nose with a background of matchstick and apple. The palate has a chewy acidity which is very delicate.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): Apple skin with a few confectionary notes and some ripe red fruit on the nose and a floral and delicate palate. Very good.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): The nose starts with a candle wax core and honeysuckle florals with a mineral palate with a very long finish.

7/1/2022 - AlexGarner wrote:

Anvers cellar door tasting (Anvers Winery, Razorback Road, Kangarilla): Green apple on the nose with clover floral notes that lead to a ripe pear and lemon palate that is quite delicate and leads to an interesting acid finish.

6/18/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Doug Neal with Hesket, Altera Terra & Gaffy Neal new releases (Prince Wine Store - Bank Street): Confectionary and red fruit on the nose with juicy florals as well. The palate is dense with beautiful fruit. drinking amazingly well.

6/18/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Doug Neal with Hesket, Altera Terra & Gaffy Neal new releases (Prince Wine Store - Bank Street): Wow - I wish I held on to some of these - so much sweet, dark, read fruit with savoury autumn leaves and a fresh ripeness. The palate is super-heady with bold, grippy tannins that a beautifully, structurally integrated.

6/18/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Doug Neal with Hesket, Altera Terra & Gaffy Neal new releases (Prince Wine Store - Bank Street): Lots of complexity with deep red and blue fruits on the nose and a cedar perfume running through it. The palate is long with ripe red fruits, and integrated silky tannins.

6/18/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Doug Neal with Hesket, Altera Terra & Gaffy Neal new releases (Prince Wine Store - Bank Street): This one has McLaren Vale Shiraz as well as the usual Murrumbateman grapes, but this still has a nose of confectionary and plums. There is delicate oak and the palate is chock full of tiny focussed tannins, more plums and raspberry leaf.

6/18/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Doug Neal with Hesket, Altera Terra & Gaffy Neal new releases (Prince Wine Store - Bank Street): A big nose of cherry and dried herbs and a palate that shows depth and complexity with savoury talkiness and bright fruit.

6/18/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Doug Neal with Hesket, Altera Terra & Gaffy Neal new releases (Prince Wine Store - Bank Street): A raspberry nose with floral and sweet heady notes and a palate of silky and savoury complexity through to the finish.

6/18/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Doug Neal with Hesket, Altera Terra & Gaffy Neal new releases (Prince Wine Store - Bank Street): A juicy lime and lemon nose with notes of wet slate and a floral and delicate palate with ripe pear and stone fruit leading into a mineral finish.

6/18/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Doug Neal with Hesket, Altera Terra & Gaffy Neal new releases (Prince Wine Store - Bank Street): A ripe stone fruit nose with nacho pear and a juicy, rich fruit palate with focussed acid and an unctuous mouthfeel and finish.

6/18/2022 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Doug Neal with Hesket, Altera Terra & Gaffy Neal new releases (Prince Wine Store - Bank Street): A citrus opening on the nose, mostly grapefruit with minerals and matchstick. The palate is delicate pear and ginger with a long acid backbone and a tight mineral finish.

4/18/2022 - AlexGarner wrote:

Violets, tobacco and leather with some purple fruit still coming through. Amazing how well this has fared over the years it’s been sleeping.

4/4/2021 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

A nose of dark cherry, bramble, cola with a chalky, musky opulence. The palate is very silky with delicate, but present tannins and beautifully balanced acid. This wine is as fresh as a daisy and will cellar for many more decades.

1/11/2021 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Orange marmalade and citrus peel on the nose with a good acid crunch on the palate with a nice bitter grapefruit on the end. Will last for ages yet, no need to drink up.

1/4/2020 - AlexGarner wrote:

Still had a bunch of primary fruit on opening which gave way to a beautiful, balanced, savory nose of black currants, leather and cedar. Still great drinking, but it fades after an hour in the decanter. Drink now. Excellent.

7/27/2019 - AlexGarner wrote:

Given how broken the last few of this wine have been, this is surprisingly drinkable. The cork isn’t crumbling which makes me suspect that the bad bottles are probably cork-related.

Nose is red currant, tobacco leaf and stewed plums which is all very pleasant but there is a vegetal undertone that’s not ideal, but not a major problem.

The palette is focused and mineral, with good earthy notes and savory vlackcurrant to finish.

I wish these winemakers would stop using corks. They really do ruin otherwise good bottles of wine.

5/25/2019 - AlexGarner wrote:

Dark fruit with some older raisin and savory stalk in the nose, with a quite tannic palette that has lost some of the fruity vibrancy that it had when younger. It might round out at but over the next few years as it crosses into older age, but for now it’s a bit unbalanced. Still very enjoyable.

9/29/2018 - AlexGarner wrote:

Right at the end of its life now. Still some fruit on the nose with blueberry and currant as well as some nice spice and brambly earth.

The palate is soft and earthy with some gentle acidity and a leathery, dusty finish with very delicate tannins.

I wish these guys never sold to Tattachilla and continued this heritage - it’s such a great wine that was good value at the time.

7/21/2018 - AlexGarner wrote:

Nose of black fruit and red forest berries, with leather and graphite. The palette is silky and full of delicate tannins. Drinking beautifully but will keep for another decade.

7/20/2018 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Quite muscular and still very fruit driven. Balanced perfume of dark berry and opened up quicker than I thought. Ready to start drinking now, but will continue to improve for a few more years.

5/12/2018 - AlexGarner wrote:

This wine is now past its best unfortunately. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s not like it was 5 years ago. The core of the nose is stewed apricots and slightly browned apple pie and it’s developing an edge of raisins.

The palate has chewy acid and a silky mouthfeel but the fruit and savoury elements have dropped off so there is a balance issue now.

Good fun with a pasta on a regular Saturday night in, but running out of steam now.

12/25/2017 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Dark nose of plums, blackberry, earth, tobacco leaf and a touch of blue fruit.

The palette is forward and powerful with good acidity and lengthy tannins, and it will stand up to pretty much any food. There is no hurry to drink up if well cellared.

9/10/2017 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

This is amazing value and delivering really well on power, complexity and tannin integration. The nose is spicy and earthy, with a deep rhubarb and root vegetables. The palette is chewy and textural, with smooth tannin weight and power. Very good.

9/5/2017 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Always a great value Italian white with a floral nose of crushed rocks and melons. The palette has a crisp acidity that balances well with the strongest minerals and juicy citrus in the finish. Dry, aggressive and great with food.

8/20/2017 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Whispering Hills and Shows Road Tasting (Craft and Vine, Montmorency): White pepper and dusty earth with fresh rain on the nose and a dark, medicinal cherry palette with good mouthfeel, structure and balance and a long and complex finish.

8/20/2017 - AlexGarner wrote:

Whispering Hills and Shows Road Tasting (Craft and Vine, Montmorency): Autumn leaves and savoury earth notes on the nose, followed by red cherry and forest berry. The palette is stalky and stemy which works well with the savoury nose and is tight, with well integrated spices and a long, tannic finish.

8/20/2017 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Whispering Hills and Shows Road Tasting (Craft and Vine, Montmorency): A nose of cashews and toasty oak with a delicate, dry palette that is bright with hints of lime zest and some solid oak of the finish.

8/20/2017 - AlexGarner Likes this wine:

Whispering Hills and Shows Road Tasting (Craft and Vine, Montmorency): Quite a yeasty nose with a good, balanced oak profile with plenty of butter and a lick of smoke. The palette has fine bubbles with a very delicate structure, with brioche, some citrus and a long, dry finish.