Just wow! Purchased on release for $21. Cellared sine. No ullage. Cork crumbled on removal. Decanted through a neutral paper coffee filter. Moderate amount of fine dregs left behind. Deep magenta color. Intoxicating, heavy, slightly smokey black fruit nose. Palate filling fruit driven with earthy flavors in the mouth. Long finish in the forward to mid-palate. There was a glass leftover (and it was in the glass) and I had it with lunch the next day. Every bit as good as it was last night. This still has a ways to go. Wish I had more. Score might be conservative. Best wine for drinking pleasure I've had in recent memory and that includes a recent Dunn vertical tasting hosted by Mike Dunn.
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Cork crumbled completely upon extraction. A LOT of sediment. Nose of dark fruits, anise seeds, licorice liqueur and Parmigiano (pepsine). Taste is very thin and acidic, not what it should be. So, we blame oxidation because of a bad cork and look forward to screw capped Dead Arms instead. Today was sooo busy I only smelled the wine upon decanting and hurried to return it to the btl after ~90 min. At the restaurant, it became painfully obvious that I'd brought a wine better suited for sauce. Drinkable like a cheap, watery CdR... Note to self: ALWAYS make a thorough quality control before bringing wines to restaurant. Wife agrees on that point. At wonderful Tani in Gaienmae (Tokyo).
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Great bright black/red color for a nine year old wine. THe nose screams at you in aromas of shaved american oak and red berrries. If you do not like american oak, than this wine is not for you, otherwise its pure chocolate covered cherries and Dr. Peppar.
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We had this wine at Norm’s tasting last evening. It was my favorite of the Aussie Shirazs. The color was very dark and concentrated brickish purple. The nose had scents of blackberries, anise, smoke and blueberry. The taste was complex and showed flavors of blackberries, blueberries, fruit tart and mushrooms. The finish was long on black, ripe fruit.
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2/28/2024 - drdecanto Likes this wine: 93 Points
Just wow! Purchased on release for $21. Cellared sine. No ullage. Cork crumbled on removal. Decanted through a neutral paper coffee filter. Moderate amount of fine dregs left behind. Deep magenta color. Intoxicating, heavy, slightly smokey black fruit nose. Palate filling fruit driven with earthy flavors in the mouth. Long finish in the forward to mid-palate. There was a glass leftover (and it was in the glass) and I had it with lunch the next day. Every bit as good as it was last night. This still has a ways to go. Wish I had more. Score might be conservative. Best wine for drinking pleasure I've had in recent memory and that includes a recent Dunn vertical tasting hosted by Mike Dunn.
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8/6/2019 - rgawlowski Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still great although at its end. Nice nose, honey, berry fruit. Very nice balance.
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12/6/2013 - StefanAkiko wrote: flawed
Cork crumbled completely upon extraction. A LOT of sediment. Nose of dark fruits, anise seeds, licorice liqueur and Parmigiano (pepsine). Taste is very thin and acidic, not what it should be. So, we blame oxidation because of a bad cork and look forward to screw capped Dead Arms instead.
Today was sooo busy I only smelled the wine upon decanting and hurried to return it to the btl after ~90 min. At the restaurant, it became painfully obvious that I'd brought a wine better suited for sauce. Drinkable like a cheap, watery CdR...
Note to self: ALWAYS make a thorough quality control before bringing wines to restaurant.
Wife agrees on that point.
At wonderful Tani in Gaienmae (Tokyo).
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1/18/2007 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 92 Points
Great bright black/red color for a nine year old wine. THe nose screams at you in aromas of shaved american oak and red berrries. If you do not like american oak, than this wine is not for you, otherwise its pure chocolate covered cherries and Dr. Peppar.
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8/12/2006 - johnwine wrote: 94 Points
We had this wine at Norm’s tasting last evening. It was my favorite of the Aussie Shirazs. The color was very dark and concentrated brickish purple. The nose had scents of blackberries, anise, smoke and blueberry. The taste was complex and showed flavors of blackberries, blueberries, fruit tart and mushrooms. The finish was long on black, ripe fruit.
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