2/5/2023 - azzah Likes this wine:

Thought this was superb for a young Bordeaux. Complete, complex, long, approachable but with ability to age, balanced, and an overall deliciousness. Lots of red berry, plum, cassis fruit, with gravel, spice and anise. All the components are there for a good stint in the cellar and to develop into a beautiful wine! I’m probably being a bit stingy with the score.

1/5/2021 - LindsayM Likes this wine:

This is the review by Winefront in May 2017 and almost 4 years later nothing has changed - great review

From the Standish Family Vineyard on Siegersdorf Road, Vine Vale. 1912 planting. 7.6Ha 4530 bottles cropping at less than 1/2 ton per Ha !

Tasting Notes
Black fruit, liquorice, earth, grilled meat with pepper, dried roses, vanilla and exotic spices. Full bodied, rich and ripe, but savoury and controlled, thick with sooty and pleasantly raw-edged tannin, dense brooding flavour, a pulse of fresh acidity, then tannin and tar ‘n spice rolling into the long finish, and a surprising lingering mouth-perfume of roses and plums. Lots of layers here, and a more ‘natural’ feel than many Barossa Shiraz. It’s pretty bloody good. Gary Walsh, Tasted May17

1/25/2022 - azzah Likes this wine:

Man this is big. Big, bold, luscious, silky, impactful, full throttle Cabernet. I mean, if this were new world, there would be comments about overripeness and alcohol levels - but we all know there’s one rule for Bordeaux and another for the rest of the world.

But I love this wine, and it’s rare to have a St Estephe that’s so approachable now. Layers of flavour and interest - cassis, black cherry, coffee grinds (expensive oak), vanilla, aniseed, gravel, Vegemite (saline), tobacco tannins. The heat does show through and distract a bit, but the silky depth of this wine is quite something.

I must also mention the colour - it is the most vivid, glowing, deep purple you can imagine. Stunning.

1/5/2022 - azzah Likes this wine:

I don’t have a lot of experience with champagne but this is about as close to perfection that I’m going to try. Just perfect line and length, seamless complexity, brilliantly balanced, long flavours, not a hair out of place. A wine that grabs your attention and makes you take note. Green apple, lemon, freshly cooked bread, white flowers, a hint of peach. Still so young - that acid so vibrant and minerally. A privilege to drink.

8/12/2021 - azzah Likes this wine:

The latent power in the wine was quite something. Burghound said it could be a 50 year wine and there was nothing to doubt that. All kinds of cherries and berries, spices, caramel and mushroom/forest floor/truffle/earth. Amazing structure and balance and beautiful drinking.

7/20/2021 - azzah Likes this wine:

Developing nicely, but I thought lacked a bit of cohesion, which is not what I expected from a 12 year old shiraz. Still bright fruits - red and darker berries, with a cranberry type acidity, hint of chocolate and caramel oak, with a slight meatiness developing. Tannins have mainly resolved to a silky palate, and there's good length. It's just that the fruit and acidity felt a bit disjointed. I'm being picky - it really is a good, tasty wine.

6/26/2021 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine:

Under the hated cork, this note made about 4 hours after opening, not decanted (I plan to drink most of this tomorrow), from Riedel Bordeaux.

The colour is a shade lighter than the 2009 that I am also drinking at this time (it's a dirty job but someone's got to do it), brighter than the 2009 and no indication of bricking.

The nose is as fresh as the colour would suggest; extraordinary really for a 13 year old wine. Dominated by primary characters of red cherry, perhaps a hint of Kirsch, a glace cherry element, some dried herbs and a hint of tar. Glorious!

The palate is already approachable but I have to say that this is a wine that could clearly lap up more time; I think you win either way. The flavours are as per the nose, this is more elegant than the 2009 and, arguably, better for it. No issues with length and intensity - top notch. Tannins are a strong presence, of course, but they are ripe and more fine than in the 2009. I am in love.

One has to be careful about who one opens Nebs for. I opened a beautiful Paolo Scavino 2007 Bric del Fiasc for some of my more bovine drinking companions and it was as though I had served up a particularly malodorous turd in a glass for them. As I age I become more and more of the view that there are people who for all their good qualities are, essentially, Hobbits, fiercely resistant to anything that smacks of broadening one's experience. Just give them what they know and pick your audience for the more nuanced or 'out there' experiences, including Barolo and Barbaresco.

9/6/2020 - Bruce Rolph wrote:

Released only last week, I took delivery of a winery-direct 6-pack last Friday, and happened to visit the vineyard cellar-door on Saturday and was able to taste this much anticipated release. And wow, this is worthy of superlatives, even by Clonakilla’s impressive standard. The colour is a delicate kaleidoscope of reds interspersed with purples and even Burgundian pinks sparkling (it was sunny outside) as you swirl the glass, albeit more impressive really because you know that the intense excitement still awaits. On the nose, Clonakilla/Canberra/cool climate peppery spice, settling somewhat after barely 5 minutes but still ever present and broadening as the clock ticks by. If I could go no further but just swirl and sniff, it would have still been worth the drive to Murrumbateman, knowing the joys that lay over the years ahead. And the palate doesn't disappoint, revealing an extraordinarily elegant (so young!), medium-bodied shiraz with fine tannins, beguiling complexity and exceptional length. There was no choice but to buy another bottle to enjoy that evening with my fellow travellers back at the hotel in Canberra, which we did and can only reinforce this is a great Clonakilla Syrah/Shiraz with an undoubtedly great future. It's not cheap, but I still thinks it borders on a bargain.

4/9/2020 - azzah Likes this wine:

Toast oak and dark fruits on the nose. Cassis, dark chocolate, blueberry, cedar and vanilla on the palate. Hint of fennel too after being open a while. Tobacco tannins with just a hint of bitterness (not distracting). Good length and body. Nice wine.

5/5/2020 - clayfu wrote:

yowsers spice box city!! Insane nose. Ripe round red fruit warm. Very high acid. Finish for days.

10/30/2019 - benjaminpaul wrote:

Fully ripe cherry, raspberry liquorice, roast lamb, herbs, blackcurrant lolly, rubber and creme de cassis, some olive brine. Long length, generous. The best wine I've had in a long time an excellent expression of 2013, NZ's best vintage? Drinking well now, could go a few more years.

8/5/2019 - azzah Does not like this wine:

Not a great showing today - definite Brett on the nose, along with distracting egg and chemicals. The palate is an improvement with simple flavours of cassis, bandage, gravel and hints of vanilla. One to miss.

10/2/2019 - thesternowl Likes this wine:

Deep, dark purple. Plenty of brambles and spice...but really, there’s nothing here that gets me excited. This is a good wine and it’s quite quaffable actually, but not particularly remarkable to me. A bit of a reminder as to why I only focus on a handful of producers in CdP anymore.

8/1/2019 - Bathtub58 wrote:

Day 1: Popped and poured. Consumed 1/3 bottle over two hours. Minimal aromas and flavors. A bit astringent. Not much to enjoy here now or in the near term. I’m not convinced there is long term upside. Replaced cork.
Day 30: Fell apart, whereas I’ve seen other wines blossom with this much time.

6/5/2018 - azzah wrote:

Drink now if you have one before the brett takes over. Please Michel, if you’re going to charge this much for a wine, ensure it’s clean. Lots of beautiful, plush red and black fruit underneath but it’s been obscured by bandage aromas and flavours.

9/30/2013 - azzah Likes this wine:

Purple/red colour, just starting to orange around the edges. This is my third of these now - one previously from 2001 and the other from 2004 - but this is the first one that has not been cork affected in some way. And wow what a difference.

This is a massively flavoured, bold, alcholic wine. And it has massive impact. It is NOT for pinot lovers. Right in the drinking zone too, I think - it has a wonderful hit of upfront fruit - black cherry and plums with hints of raspberry and cranberry - but with a background of complex secondary flavours - leather, mushroom, tobacco. Oak still evident but sitting much further in the background. This is a wine that is very pleasant and complete just by itself or with a nice vintage cheddar and some salami.

6/18/2013 - azzah Likes this wine:

Beautiful colour - a vibrant blue/purple. And what a wine. Perfumed. Violets, meat and blood, pepper and spice, black and blueberries on the nose.

The flavours are Cornas writ large, with black and blueberries, meats, pepper and spice, licorice, and closing with black olive. A ferrous minerality too. Fine mouth coating tannin. Depth, complexity and length. Just amazing. I didn't want this bottle to end - it left me mesmerised.

5/5/2013 - azzah Likes this wine:

Beautiful red/purple colour.

This is a such a beautiful Barossa Shiraz. Who said Barossa shiraz can't be balanced and approachable? Aromas of violets, berries - red and dark, and hints of anise. Raspberry, boysenberry, chocolate, licorice and gentle spice in the mouth. Really velvety tannins. So easy to drink with food. Will be great with 5 - 10 years on it.