August 14, 2022 - My 3000th TN! And what a generous pull from my friend and favorite Somm.
Cork was pulled and decanted vigorously for about an hour, and it needed it. Lots of spearmint and wood driven spice tones. Deeply extracted, dark pitched fruit. Quite ripe and high in alcohol, even with some eucalyptus. You can really see how the high end aussie shiraz of the 90s/00s we’re trying to emulate this classic (and gigantic) wine.
August 13, 2022 - Small taste in a rather warm room but this was quite nice. Showed some heat but ripe dark fruit with spice intervoven.
July 8, 2022 - Fabulous wine, very dense and complete. Still young though, good as it is now it will be better in time. Red black and blue berries, herbs, olive, and smoked meat.
January 31, 2022 - Austin 3-star food + wine; 1/30/2022-1/31/2022 (Our residence, Austin, TX): Fruit was slightly jammy and stewed. I love La Las but seemingly prefer vintages without the heat spike of 2003. I don't think age will improve this vintage, as it would most other vintages.
December 17, 2021 - Dark color, incredibly dense fruit but the tannins are soft enough that this isn't too young to drink now. There's an exotic spice running through the wine that sets it apart, and I kept coming back to how deep and neverending the fruit seem. It's a monster in a tuxedo, a huge beast that can play nice.
October 20, 2021 - Massive, tastes like a top Oz shiraz, with complexity
June 29, 2021 - Dark Vador kind of color. Tar, licorice and dried fruits aromas are followed by a thick and dense mouth. Lots of sweetness, no dry tannins, but lacking freshness and lift - medium persistence at the end....Very new world. Maybe it was best to drink that beast young- when it was a heavy weight champ. Now the retired champ is just a big man - a faded version of what it once was. Sell it if you bought that on release.
June 12, 2021 - This is a rich and powerful wine. Drank next to a mouton and a Clos Rougeard it is not as aromatic as either of the other 2 wines but certainly shows the power and structure. Deep concentrated fruits, chocolate, dark berries and spices envelop the palate.
May 19, 2021 - served 30 minutes after decanting. First taste was so-so, maybe stayed in glass a little too long. Nose was still kinda nice, with forest, a little floral and soapy notes. About 50 minutes after decanting, the second pour was fresher, more lively on the palate, but still a little softer than expected. One hour and 15 minutes after, this showed more sweet and ripe fruits, gets better at 1½ hours, and more than 2 hours after this showed some vanilla oak. Honestly, this was kinda disappointing. I was expecting much more from one of my favorite wines from a stellar vintage.
January 13, 2021 - M&PD Zoom Tasting: This is a great wine, but my least favorite of the Turques on this night. Some green notes which made me wonder if it was too young. Eric thought it may be characteristic of the vintage where the vines shut down early (see note below). This had nice floral and fruit notes, but less exotic than the others. The feral/blood was almost non-existent here, which I feel makes this wine so unique. Still fantastic wine.