April 21, 2013 - This is a big merlot from Australia. Jammy from the get-go, loads of dark fruit, tobacco, dark chocolate, subtle white pepper, soft tannin and a fairly long finish.
February 1, 2013 - Very nice and round.
February 28, 2012 - - Brick color with slow forming legs. It's balanced and has flavours of strawberry jam and blackberry with a medium/full body. Round texture with a medium finish - Opened this tonight for a simple roast chicken and herbed root vegetables. First glass was angular and somewhat chemical, with a bunch of odd tannic notes, not balanced and barely present fruit. I usually really enjoy this wine, what happened? Then I remembered THE MOLLYDOOKER SHAKE... next glass was back in familiar arms. Softer acids, fruits of fig and jammy berries, much better balanced. Yummy! (Plays really with the roasted turnips shallots, and parsnips.) Very drinkable now. Just remember to shake it... check their website if you don't know what I mean.
January 22, 2012 - PnP thru aerator. Great fruit taste. But, it had a little catch at the finish that made you question whether you liked it.
January 7, 2012 - This bottle was not as enjoyable as the previous two, either it was an off bottle or the wine has gone into decline. It was a perfectly ok Merlot but had less of the vibrancy tasted previously. I guess “pushed” (reverse osmosis, oak pellets, micro-oxygenation &c) wines don’t age so well. I’ll soon try a bottle of 2009 The Boxer ShirOz and see if the same thing is going on with it; I’m more and more off the pushed wine bandwagon, it produces wines that are bold and in your face when drunk young but which lack depth and subtlety - compared with Massena “The Eleventh Hour” the ‘dooker wines are crude and boorish.
November 24, 2011 - Ok
August 2, 2011 - deep chocolate, plum and silky tannins dominate. Flavors are basic but enjoyable.
July 30, 2011 - Very dark ruby red in the glass with a helix of long legs in the bowl of the glass after swirling.
Very fruity on the nose with dark red cherries and boysenberries as well.
On the palette, fruit really smacks the gob, but there is a charming, subtle powdered cocoa taste that sneaks in on the attack and builds into the finish that is really quite tasty.
Again, I have to say that this ‘accelerated’ ShirOZ is really precocious to the point of being cheeky, but it is hard to put down. Something about it keeps me coming back to try to suss out the finer notes. I think I’ll let the remaining bottles age in the cellar until at least the winter - we’ll have one when the frost is on the pumpkin or perhaps even when the snow lays upon the land like a soft white blanket and one’s thoughts turn to a roaring oak fire in the fireplace.
Again 90 points with upside potential.
Must. Hold. One. Bottle. Until it’s 5th birthday.
Mark
June 18, 2011 - It's very sweet and tasty, but it's huge. Too much for a Merlot. No suppleness or softness. Not at all balanced, but what you get is flavorful.
April 11, 2011 - Very enjoyable, perhaps because it was very un-Merlot like. Greta body, color and intensity. Drank well after decanting and probably will do well in the cellar for a few more years.