2013 Chalk Hill Wines Shiraz Alpha Crucis Winemakers' Series Tom Harvey

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 83 points

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  10/4/2016 - forceberry wrote: 83 Points

  Vinified by Tom Harvey of Chalk Hill, McLaren Vale. Harvested on 21st of February. All fruit was destemmed, cold-soaked for three days. Fermented in controlled temperature with the skins for 12 days and aged in new oak hogsheads puncheons.
  
  Almost fully opaque black cherry color. Somewhat restrained and slightly sweet-toned nose with aromas of crushed dark berries, some sweet toasty spice, a little bit of cocoa oak, light mint chocolate notes, a hint of jammy blackberry and a touch of toasted wood. Overall the wine feels slightly more like a "ten buck Aussie Shiraz" than the other Winemakers' Series 2013 wines. The wine is smooth, polished and full-bodied on the palate with rather sweet-toned and quite jammy flavors of cherry marmalade, blackberry jam, some sweet mint chocolate notes, a little bit of sweet toasty oak spice, light caramel notes and hints of cinnamon and other Christmas spices. Overall the wine feels very soft, mellow and silky smooth with its relatively low acidity and round medium-minus tannins. The alcohol lends a moderately warm touch to the palate. The finish is gently grippy, somewhat warm and relatively short with quite sweet-toned and jammy flavors of toasty oak spice, almost overripe blackberries, a little bit of vanilla, light cherry marmalade tones, a little bit of stony minerality and a hint of extracted woody bitterness.
  
  A soft, easy and boring Shiraz that shows a lot of fruit and intensity but very little balance. The wine seems to be all about very ripe fruit, lots of oak to show through all that fruit and high alcohol. This might appeal to people who think that the bigger the body and the riper the fruit, the better the wine, but the wine feels very predictable and monotonous if one values nuances and finesse. One of the biggest disappointments in the 2013 Winemakers' Series Shiraz range - tastes like your run-of-the-mill $10 Aussie Shiraz from wherever Down Under. Meh.

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