May 3, 2018 - Tart fruit (cherry), vegal (musty dirt), acidic, and a hint of minerality on the opening but after some time it opened up enough to be drinkable; however, the pepper, spices and luscious ripe fruits that would have expressed their essence years ago are gone. Sadly, this once delicious shiraz viognier is past its prime.
December 20, 2014 - Fresh cherry, blueberry, cinnamon and darck chocolatte. Medium body, and a short burst of soft but dry tannin follow by sour cherry and hints saw dust.
August 26, 2012 - Big smooth overripe fruit. Dark fruit, low acidity, inky finish, with band-aid nose and flavors, stinging alcohol on the finish. Oh wait, after 2 hours it is starting to shine, much more balanced and pure with a longer finish, but still big.
July 23, 2012 - Pleasantly surprised. Nice deep garnet color. Violets, blackberry, blueberry, cassis on the nose with some pepper and leather notes from the Shiraz. It opens up with some airing and I actually drank this over three days, it was best on day two-three (for me). Nice black fruit and dark cherries for me on the pallet, toasty oak coming through but well balanced. A little acidity and soft tannins with a med to long finish, overall a medium bodied wine that is not over the top and is great to sip with food. My only issue was that the alcohol did come through on the finish, a tad hot. But solid wine nevertheless
August 8, 2010 - Day 1
Oaky, barnyard nose with little floral aroma. Heavily extracted on palate and strong oak At the end.
December 17, 2009 - Not a fan. Indeterminate, stewed nose. Big, extracted palate - like a modern CDR gone wrong. Too much (unripe??) Viognier. Acidic. Savoury. Too lean. Tart, peppery, bitter. Clumsy. Hard to drink this!
Opened up a little after leaving 2/3 of the bottle for 12 hours with a cork in it. Better balanced, more of the darker fruit showing, but still over-acidic and unbalanced. Sour cherries, green olives with an unripe bitterness. Shallow flavour profile. Half the bottle found its fate in a beef stew in the oven.
I am guessing that a less-than-good crop of Viognier is to blame.
February 11, 2009 - Debated about opening 1 (of 6) so soon, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this wine. Night one with about 30-40 minutes of decanting, it was earthy, vegal and slightly fruity but all importantly well balanced. Delicate and more Viognier than Shiraz. Night two and its more fruit forward (rich ripe berries) and a hint of spice and moderately less earthy and vegal and more Shiraz than Viognier. Regardless, both nights earn this one an A+. Looking forward to bottles 2-6.
June 28, 2008 - Not sure I'm tasting the same wine as the reviews. This seems to be a somewhat vegetal wine, with a great nose but just not what I was expecting. There's a lot more olive and a lot less fruit than I was expecting, especially given ST's review. It's not a bad wine - and I suppose for certain people it will hold quite a bit of interest. But for now, I'm opening another bottle.
May 22, 2008 - Medium purple in colour this wine showed ripe plum, roasted pepper and vanilla aromas on the nose. The palate had great fruit conceptration, but was not over the top. Some floral notes ending with a little spice. Not a greatly complex wine, but nice.
April 19, 2008 - Double decanted (3 hours). The nose is of mixed spice and blackberry fruit with a hint of olive and green pepper. Medium bodied, good fruit concentration and a silky texture with primary flavours of plums, mixed berries, spice and white pepper. A very easy to drink wine, not especially complex and seemingly absent of the exotic fragrent characters I've come to associate with many Shiraz / Viognier blends. Finishes with a 25+ second dry, peppery berry aftertaste. Solid value at £11.20 (Tesco) - and should improve with a few years bottle age.