80 points
Evergreen Vineyard, Columbia Valley, Washington. 12.5%
Great label.
Pale colour. Dilute nose. Just a touch of sweetness. Good sweetness acid balance. Lacks flavour and character.
91 points
Barossa Valley, South Australia. 13.5%
An unusual wine which I enjoyed. The oak aroma is rather unique, this wine would stump me in a blind tasting (smelling). It doesn’t seem to be French or American oak, whatever it actually is it isn’t sweet or over-the-top just different.
The palate is ripe and flavoursome with a touch of fruit sweetness on the forefront. It’s quite elegant with well restrained alcohol and excellent balancing acidity (not forced).
This is a non-showy Barossa Shiraz, low octane. Beautifully ripe without syrupy extract and alcohol. Bravo.