Winemaker Notes
Plenty of varied aromas greet the nose with a welter of herbal notes including tarragon, thyme and celery, with almost a bouquet garni quality. Rather than fresh green herbs this is more concentrated like super flavorsome dried herbs. Underneath, the fruit is there with a sweet cherry like flavor.
Tasting the wine you get the full impact of the depth of fruit. It is not a fleshy, juicy wine but more of an earthy, spicy and herbal mixture.
At the back of the palate there is a lingering finish with some firm and drying tannins. The acid level is noticeable but not dominant and this means that you can taste the flavor in the wine longer.
With all the lovely fragrances present right now the wine is there to be enjoyed. However, the tannins will preserve this lovely herbal like fruit comfortably for 10 years or so. Looking for food matches…….. marinate some veal chops with some tarragon, grill them and serve with a béarnaise sauce. This should perfectly compliment the tarragon like flavor in the wine.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Hickenbotham Syrah blew me away. The 2001 Syrah Hickenbotham boasts glorious amounts of blackberry liqueur intermixed with melted licorice, vanilla, smoke, and earth in a full-bodied, unctuously-textured, viscous style with great purity as well as palate persistence. The finish lasts nearly 60 seconds. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2020.
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Wine Spectator
Rich and refined, with spicy blueberry, blackberry and creamy spice flavors wrapped in superfine tannins that let the flavors grow and expand on the generous finish, hinting at smoky, leathery notes as the flavors last.
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.”
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.