Winemaker Notes
I suggest a big T-Bone steak, cooked as little as possible, a few greens, button mushrooms and some potato chips.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Boundary Row Shiraz comes from five parcels with the best one aged in new American oak. The balance of the wine is aged in a mix of new and used French and American oak for a total of 24 months. Purple-colored, it exhibits an attractive perfume of violets, lavender, pepper, smoked meat, and blueberry. Plush on the palate and medium to full-bodied, the wine has gobs of savory flavor and well integrated components. It will evolve for several more years and drink well through 2020.
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Wine Enthusiast
Full-throttle, obvious Barossa-style Shiraz, loaded with vanilla-scented oak, but also with blackberry fruit. The tannins are soft, imparting a wonderfully creamy texture and completely filling the mouth. Lush and oaky—this may not be for the intellectual wine drinker—but it’s definitely hedonistic. Drink now–2012.
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Wine & Spirits
Rich, mouthwatering flavors of foresty strawberries and cranberries highlight the deeper tones of this gamey red. It's supple and ready to decant for thick-cut lamb chops.
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.