Winemaker Notes
We know however the fruit will prevail in the 10th or 11th round. By TKO. Above all that, the texture is familiar OB, slippery, with tannin and acid hard to separate. Not bad for a hands off effort by a bunch of Bogans.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The flagship 2006 Old Bastard Shiraz was sourced from a 114-year-old vineyard and aged for 19 months in new and one year French oak. It exhibits an expressive nose of toasty oak, earth notes, and wild blueberry followed by a thick, dense, super-rich, opulent Shiraz with tons of savory fruit, spice notes, and impeccable balance. This exceptionally lengthy wine will have a drinking window extending from 2014 to 2028.
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James Suckling
This shows brambly, rich and ripe, sweet red and dark-fruit aromas with an earthy edge and milk chocolate, as well as cedary oak. The palate has a bold and dense blackberry fruit core and plenty of ripe tannin, but it holds the edge of balance. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Big, ripe and generous, delivering a powerful mouthful of spicy blackberry, black plum, licorice and tobacco flavors that push right through the fine tannins on the long, slightly hot finish. Best from 2010 through 2018. 500 cases made.
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.