Wild Duck Creek Reserve Shiraz 2000
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Parker
Robert
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2000 Shiraz Springflat Reserve (14.5% alcohol; 200 cases) was aged in various sizes of French wood. It possesses explosive fruit, full body, admirable concentration, and slightly higher acidity than Barossa Shiraz, which makes the tannin stand out. Nevertheless, this is a big, mouth-searing, full-bodied, muscular red that needs some time in the cellar.
Mr. Anderson is a self-taught winemaker (well, almost self-taught: he did look up information on pH levels in a winemaking book once) yet consistently produces more inspired wine than any gaggle of enology school graduates could ever hope to make. He is completely hands-on from the planting of his vineyards all the way through bottling the finished wine. He even loads up his van and delivers the wines personally to his mailing list clients all over Australia! Visiting David is like visiting a mad scientist. He’s got maverick single barrels, experimental barrels, wines made for friends, odds and ends all over the place. Everything is made in the inimitable Duck style. There’s a dust-covered chemistry set in the corner that David points to and laughs at as he passes by. He makes wine by intuition rather than by formula.
The Wild Duck Creek wines reflect the personality of their maker: wild, unique, intriguing, very complex, yet immediately likeable. It’s the winemakers such as David Anderson who are the heart and soul of the Grateful Palate.
Though Syrah originated in the Rhône Valley of France, Australia is home to the oldest Syrah (called Shiraz here) vines on the planet. Found in Australia’s Barossa Valley, where phylloxera has never threated viticulture, these ancient vines are between 140 to 175 years old!
Having brought fame and merit to the country’s wine scene since the early 1950s, namely via the debut of Penfolds Grange, today Syrah (Shiraz) claims rank as the most widely planted grape in Australia. In fact, the amount of land dedicated to Shiraz in Australia is now almost equivalent to what it is in France. Australian Shiraz has its own personality with flavors and aromas of intense blackberry, fruitcake, menthol, tobacco leaf and umami. Conveniently one can find great Australian Shiraz at a variety of price points but the very best will be dense, gloriously complex and capable of long aging.