Winemaker Notes
The Wine Advocate, Jay Miller
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Shiraz “The Mad Hatter” is opaque purple in color with glass-coating glycerin. It offers aromas of cedar, smoke, scorched earth, tar, espresso, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. This is followed by a full-bodied wine with gobs of fruit, a plush texture, layers of flavor, ripe tannins, and a lengthy finish. Give it 5-7 years in the bottle and drink it through 2030.
-
Wine & Spirits
From a vineyard in Blewitt Springs, this Shiraz ages for close to two years in new French oak. That, plus additional bottle age, has transformed the fruit into chocolate bliss. The tannins are silky, giving scents of black tea and Asian spices. A warm and spicy winter red to pour with rack of lamb.
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.