Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Some might feel the 2001 Shiraz Reserve is too much of a good thing, but it is neither port-like, pruny, nor flat. It is simply crammed with concentrated blackberry and cassis fruit in an obvious but spectacularly textured style. It possesses considerable nuances. Loaded and thick, with low acidity and huge amounts of tannin, all concealed by lavish quantities of fruit and extract...
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Wine Spectator
A dramatic wine, rich and spicy, almost Port-like in flavor, with exotic spices, bitter chocolate and black pepper notes mingling with ripe currant and plum flavors as they persist on a big finish.
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.