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Tasting notes
Saturated ruby. Powerful, room-filling aromas of dark berry compote, vanilla, chocolate, cola and espresso aromas show a head-spinning quality (this says 16.5% alcohol on the label). Fat, soft and oily, with sweet cassis, plum and blackberry flavors sweetened by mocha and vanilla. Doesn't seem especially tannic but maybe they're lurking underneath the wine's confectionary quality. An unctuous, jammy example of shiraz that could use more energy, but this style has its fans. (The other '05 releases I tasted from this producer were all solidly made but on the jammy side.)
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
The 2005 Shiraz 9 (a 4,000-case cuvee that spends 18 months in new and one-year-old American oak) reveals a big, toasty, smoky nose, but the oak is beautifully absorbed by extravagant quantities of blackberry and cassis fruit intermixed with licorice, incense, and spice. This full-bodied, powerful, rich, layered stunner should drink well for a decade. Importer: Dan Philips, The Grateful Palate, Oxnard, CA; tel. (888) 472-5283