89 points
Coonawarra, South Australia. 13%
Fresh colour. Has a mixture of young and old characters. Some oddly vanillian French oak. It’s not going to age well further I suspect, it will get further disjointed. But, for now, with food, it is a pleasant drop. Interesting, for a fairly simple Bordeaux blend.
50 points
Macedon Ranges, Victoria. 13.5%. Screwcap.
Bright dark shiny colour.
Faulty wine. Acetone and VA with sweetish fruit make this a bit like tomato sauce.
86 points
14%
Warm, ripe style. Too ripe I feel, the Sangiovese character is lost.
Friendly. Simple.
85 points
Hunter Valley. 11.5%
A riper softer, lower acid, less concentrated style. Easy going.
91++ points
Great Western, Victoria. 14.1%
A Victorian Grange style. Personally I’d have preferred a little less oak, extraction, tannin, acid. But it’s a favoursome, powerful, stylish package.
Compared to the Penfold’s Barossa wine this shows its difference in terroir (and French oak). Tighter, cooler shiraz flavour.
80 points
Burgundy. 13%
Golden colour very developed.
Oatmeal creamy texture but dilute wine lacking acid, alcohol. Flavour of oak still.
84 points
Southern Rhone, France. 15.5%
Cheap Chateauneuf. OK for the price. Starts out as simple young Grenache but turns into Pleasant savoury luncheon wine after being breathed a good bit.
85 points
14.5%
Aged grenache. OK I know it’s supposed to be more than that, bit that’s all it is.
Not sweet, not brett. Lots of good nots but no great positives either.
Going nowhere. Drink now.
91+ points
Heathcote, Victoria. 13.5%
Very impressive wine. Not over blown like some Heathcote wines, restrained alcohol and extraction.
For me this is quintessential flavour of shiraz. Not baked warm climate and no flowery cool climate distractions. Just pure essence of shiraz.
Moderate concentration. I’m not entirely sure how long to age it. Should drink well for 10 more years.
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