What do you drink with tom kha soup? I wasn't feeling particular inspired in terms of food and wine matching, so just opened a bottle I felt like drinking. The 2005 version of this wine gave me great pleasure on numerous occasions.
Dense, youthful purple. A forthright, slightly obvious nose that nonetheless expresses an interesting dark fruit character that is part sweet and part sour. It's half jam and half sour jellies. It's almost a bit liqueur-ish and, as with the liqueurs one craves in moments of indulgent vulgarity, is pretty delicious. There's also a sweetly floral dimension to the fruit that is perhaps due to the Viognier and, to me, is rather unsubtle, but that should be crowd pleasing.
As direct as the nose is, the palate is a step up in most respects. The entry is immediately flavoursome and introduces deliciously sour dark fruit that builds and widens towards the middle palate. It's medium bodied and quite nimble. Mouthfeel is slippery and helps to keep the wine lightfooted, but because the intensity of flavour is good, the wine also has quite a lot of impact and feels as though it fills the mouth well. Fruit flavour drives through to the after palate and seems to separate into strands as it fades, leading to a soft finish. Tannins are fine and subtle, acidity adds astringent sourness without much texture.
I think this is perhaps not quite as good as the 2005, mostly due to a slightly hazy fruit character in this wine. It's very tasty but lacks a bit of definition, and is also perhaps slightly simple. I remember the 2005 being just that bit more focused. However, I love the overall character of this wine, which is not afraid to present sour fruit alongside its sweeter, friendlier elements. It has this in common with the 2005 wine. On to the soup...
Update: time in glass definitely helped this wine express itself more clearly. The strands of flavour gained precision after a couple of hours, and intensity continued to build. Fruit character is still a bit obvious, but this really is a tasty wine, and excellent value. Went rather well with the food!
Price: $A17
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: January 2008
Just tasting this now in and amongst some shiraz under $20 for an article. I like it. Meaty, peppery with sweet red fruits to smell but much drier on the palate. Lot of value here for under $20.
GW
It's a very tasty wine indeed, and excellent value. You're right that the sweetness on the nose translates to a much drier, more savoury palate. Did you also find the fruit was a bit "soft focus"?
They're not really in the mainstream "Aussie Shiraz" style, but I do like these medium bodied expressions of the grape, almost Pinot-like in their intensity and lightness of foot. They make one think O'Shea was onto a good thing with his Pinot/Shiraz blends.
No. I thought it had good cut and style.
Mine (and Campbells) wine is out soon (April) - 2006 Mountain X Shiraz Pinot from the Hunter. Quite proud of it. First of a line of Shiraz Pinot blends. 2007 another Hunter and 2008 will see a Yarra added (made by Franco of Hoddles).
GW
Perhaps it was the bottle -- I noticed a bit of variation in the 2005 version too.
I didn't know you were producing a wine, how exciting! And a Shiraz Pinot blend too. Do let me know how to procure a bottle when the time comes.