Winemaker Notes
The color is a very deep black, with a
gentle perfume of aniseed, roasted nuts, lavender, mineral, earth, tar and espresso.
On the palate, the wine is big, even and persistent coating entry of pure fruit weight. Rounded purple to black fruits that continue on an extended and long finish, with a wealth of classy tannins that make the finish very soft, rounded and balanced.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The purple/black-colored 2006 Shiraz Coach House Block Roennfeldt Road exhibits a brooding bouquet of blue and black fruits, Asian spices, and toasty oak. Supple, ripe, and more forward than the Zippy’s Block, this layered, pleasure-bent wine can be enjoyed now but will evolve for several more years. It should provide pleasure through 2021.
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Wine Spectator
Plush in texture, lavishly oaked and resonant with gorgeous black cherry, plum and licorice flavors that glide smoothly over polished tannins and linger impressively on the long, generous finish. Defines power with finesse. Drink now through 2020.
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Wine Enthusiast
For this reviewer to not notice the alcohol in a wine that weighs in at 16.4% there have to be a lot of other things going on in the glass. So it is with this wine, which is loaded with bakery aromas of vanilla, brown sugar, nutmeg, white pepper alongside concentrated flavors of Christmas pudding, ripe berries and a savory edge to the finish. Drink 2012-2018.
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.