Perfect timing for me, Ken. I bought a single bottle of this not long ago and was debating about opening it this week. Now I think that I will. Cheers.
You do know that nobody actually drinks Fosters in Australia Mark?
Although Carlton and United Breweries are talking about re-launching it. I can only assume they are working on the theory that everybody has forgotten what it tastes like.
I hope you enjoy the wine as much as my family did!
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Just checked my inventory and I have 5 bottles of 2002 Marquis Philips Shiraz Integrity.
Also 1 2003.
Gotta open another before 12/9.
16%!
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2005 Craiglee Shiraz - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Sunbury (12/2/2020)
Dark, but fairly clear, burgundy color.
Nose of kalamata olives, bacon grease, black pepper, and wildflowers.
Midweight palate of sweet but not overripe black fruits with nice balance from the acidity. A touch of heat on the end palate perhaps tilts it just slightly off balance.
I really like the style on show here… not big, forced, overripe… but also not picked too early lean and mean. (91 pts.)
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And for $5 more
Unless you’ve had fresh Guinness at The Brazen Head in Dublin, you ain’t tasted nuthin’. I suppose I could allow this as a $5 exception, since I did not specify wine.
I have had the 2002 Integrity twice. Outstanding wine.
Far left from the other night.
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1998 d’Arenberg Cabernet Sauvignon The Coppermine Road - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (11/30/2020)
Fabulous. Dark ripe fruits. Lots of secondary and tertiary aromas. Silky balanced palate. (94 pts.)
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I am sure that is the case! I’ll put that on the bucket list. Thanks for the exception - otherwise I was looking at Yellow Tail Shiraz. ![[bleh.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/c/cbb27a94fa73081862abf910a8bfa05e2ae2f5c3.gif "[bleh.gif]"){kind=small}
I checked with my two favorite retailers. One carries no aussie wines. The other carries two and they are both $150+. Slim pickings.
2017 Unico Zelco “cherry fields” Dolcetto
Not really “cherry” or “field” like, more stewed marionberry* and a bit of smokey reduction and coffee. But definitely lives up to the hipster look of the label’s visual. In the end I think the reduction saves it from being simple (if easy drinking) boozy fruit juice. Probably not fair to pick up a bottle of a grape I don’t love for a region that I know nothing about, but really not a terrible choice for $20 when running around town making deliveries- supporting a favorite local shop AND a food bank in one go! (No dice on the ABV:13.8)
- the red toned blackberry-like fruit, not the DC mayor
Not a style I buy much any more, but I have a few different vintages of this in the cellar. I suspect the 03s which were much sterner in their youth would be in a better place now
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2002 Hanging Rock Winery Shiraz Heathcote - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote (12/3/2020)
Diam closure 14%, The aroma makes it smell like is is going to be boozy and out of balance. You start to get a little leather, and a touch of coconut oak along with some spice. On the palate it’s a different story - there is still fruit but it isn’t exuberant and the tannin has integrated. There’s some fairly prominent acidity which acts as a counter to the remaining fruit. There are some mocha overtones It’s good but not outstanding.
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The fake wine media attacked my tweet saying that I was going to drink an Aussie Shiraz. Here’s proof of their collusion against me -
It was nice, but a bit atypical
You just drink that because the label-less tall green bottles have such a phallic presentation. NOt a bad wine, but definitely atypical for Shiraz. or Syrah.
Went shopping at Total Wine and I had to actually search for a bottle of Aussie that was 16%. lots of wines in the 13.5-14.5% range.
Mollydooker never disappoints when it comes to ABV!
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2018 Mollydooker Two Left Feet - Australia, South Australia (12/3/2020)
Bringing the heat with 16% ABV. Can’t stick my nose in the glass because the alcohol burns so had to check in on that later. Nose showed the heat, dried mushroom, mocha and sweet dark berry.
Slick mouthfeel, medium plus weight. Flavors of dried mocha, dark cherry, blueberry and black pepper. I’d describe the finish as aggressive.
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Brig brought by my place two wines to try, in support of Jay’s challenge. So, in the spirit of charity, I went through both of these with notes to follow. I just don’t care for these wines, and while the Torbreck was at least drinkable and decent, I just don’t care for wines made in this style anymore.
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2018 Mollydooker Two Left Feet - Australia, South Australia (12/3/2020)
Candidly, who drinks this stuff? I’m drinking it to help raise money for charity, but this wine reminds me how my palate has really changed in the past decade. This collectively reminds me of a mocha, cherry cough syrup. It’s heavy, chewy, with extracted, bitter cherry, with mocha tones and iron in the finish. The bitterness lingers for too long, but just long enough to coincide with me dumping this all into the dump bucket. -
2018 Torbreck Shiraz Woodcutter’s - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (12/3/2020)
Drinking this following a 2018 Mollydooker Two Left Feet, which was just about undrinkable for me so my hope was that this Torbreck would be better. There is a smoky, stinky leather note on the aromatic. The leather note is in the palate, as is some dark berry, creosote and rosemary. This is ready to drink, as the wine has a distinct polish and plushness to it, as if all the edges had been smoothed out somehow prior to bottling. Finishes with licorice, tangy blackberry and tar/creosote. Like the 2018 Mollydooker, this too finishes with some bitterness, but I don’t mind it here. Overall, not a lot of complexity here but if you can drink this near-term, for the style it works.
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2002 Shirvington McLaren Vale Shiraz
Wow, what an impressive nose! (And the wine’s smell is pretty good too.)
Opened for Jay’s charity week and also influenced by Ken’s favorable note in this thread on the same wine. This also served as an early birthday bottle for the photographed gentleman with the honker, who will be occupied on Dec 8th completing the last leg of a drive south from MA to FL for the winter.
I sipped at a half tumbler of the wine, as the rest of the wine inhaled and exhaled alone in a decanter for a couple of hours. Right from (ready, set,) go, this wine delivered all sorts of dark spicy ripe fruit with a pleasing warmth. Not a delicate creature, but forceful and ballsy. Yet also smooth, balanced, and easy drinking for such a powerhouse of flavor at 16% ABV. And that isn’t an oxymoron! Over time and under the influence of its alcohol, I felt like I was in a jungle of warm ripe deliciousness. Fruit. Bitter chocolate. Coffee beans. Rich humus-fertile earth. A wonderful wine drinking experience!
I opened the wine with Jacqueline and our son, who both offered some spontaneous tasting observations. “Smoky cough syrup” Jacqueline opined and she was not entirely off-base. Peter strutted his developing wine knowledge and conjectured “Cabernet or Syrah?” When I confirmed the Syrah he asked “Rhone Syrah or Australian Shiraz? Let’s leave him with that as the high point of his comments and not quote any of his subsequent comments.
We mostly drank the wine by itself, but my mind imagined Ken’s barbecue ribs pairing. And my mind was very pleased at that thought!
Cheers, Jay, and thank you for your generosity!
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Had a 2016 Penfolds Chardonnay Reserve Bin 16A last night. This is seriously good. Just the right amount of smoky mineral reduction. Pure white peach and green melon fruits. Good shape and volume and a finish with citrus cut that is loaded with chalky dry extract.
Surely these high alcohol Shiraz monsters aren’t representative of Australian wines these days?
My completely unscientific assessment based on wandering through Total Wines is most Aussie shiraz in the store is under 15% and some by quite a bit. Saw 13.5% in a few and lots in the 14-14.5% range.
I looked at 15 bottles, maybe.