Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2006 Noble Baron Shiraz is made from 100% Shiraz, matured in new and older French oak for 24 months. Very deep garnet-black colored, it has pronounced aromas of macerated blackberries, mulberries, choco-mint, cassia and loam. Crisp with a medium level of very fine tannins, this is a full-bodied, well balanced Shiraz that gives a long warm berry finish. Drink it now to 2016+.
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Wine Enthusiast
Full-bodied and velvety in texture, this wine shows plenty of oak, but it's high-class oak, all cedar, spice and vanilla, wrapped around a core of casis. with some brighter fruit tones sneaking in as well. Drink now-2015.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and open-textured, not weighty but focused and dense, with dark berry, plum and spice flavors, lingering nicely on the finish against fine tannins and a bay leaf note. Drink now through 2014
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.