I wanted a glass tonight while studying so I opened this Australian Shiraz I bought in the summer. This is mega-bomb super-intense Australian Shiraz, but is definitely a cut above the average.
The nose gives up very strong notes of candied cherry, and is simple if not intense. The palate is over the top, with the wine tasting of super-dark fruit, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and pepper. The wine is very juicy, and comes in at an incredible 16% alcohol, but it is not as 'hot' as I would expect for such high alcohol levels.
The wine is not incredibly complex, but it has a beautiful fruit forwardness and is great for the price. I like the integration, but this is not what I would call 'refined'. Over time the wine becomes a little less tasty because of its simplicity. If you aren't into fruit-bombs, maybe take the rating down a notch. However, if you are definitely give this a try - it is probably worth the
money.
[Edit: I've had a few more glasses of this over the last couple days and I have revised my opinion. It is just too simple to warrant the original rating I gave it. Still enjoyable, but definitely deserving of a lesser rating]
Good+
$35 at BCLDB
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Henry's Drive Dead Letter Office Shiraz 2005
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3 comments:
I just had the 2006 release of this wine over the weekend. Picked it up on discount at the local grocery store for $20. Unfortunately it's barely worth that price let alone the original $40 price tag. I like Shiraz, but this one is just too simple, too tannic, too much of pretty much everything. And yes, I did decant, for 2 hours!
I would agree with you. This is not the sort of Shriaz I'd recommend to anyone these days. BTW, my new site is up at http://www.justgrapeswine.com if you're interested! Lots of wine geek wines on there now.
we had the 2006 last night, and i agree, it wasn't spectacular. i lean toward jammy shiraz, but this one wasn't that flavorful.
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