This is out of my realm of experience…I’m generally NOT interested in Aussie stuff, Cali cabs, etc. Just to help someone understand my perspective when I post below, I mostly drink Italian wine, and my favorite whites are Rieslings and the few not-overdone “Orange” wines (Vodopivec, Gravner, Movia), with a few red Rhones (North & South) thrown in for good measure…And I enjoy the occasional Amarone and/or Port. I generally find the combination of sweetness, richness and eucalyptus/mint on Aussie Shiraz to be undrinkable…But the closeout price on this ($45-ish) was too good to pass up so I picked up two bottles in the name of “cellar diversity”…and now I wish I’d gone long.
First and foremost, no apparent heat here, and while there is certainly an element of “sweetness” this is truly a much dryer wine than 70% of Amarones…The flavors of the wine are very reminiscent of port (or a dry Touriga), minus the heat and most of the sweetness. Blackberry, soy sauce, tobacco, dark chocolate, and that specific “port-like” spice (some combo of cedar, sandalwood, and I-don’t-know-what), and a tart/acidic finish. Overall the wine is less “viscous” than less rich/heavy than most Shiraz and any vintage port. I think the salinity (and distinct soy/umami flavor elements) distinguish it from the vast majority of Shiraz I’ve had.
In any event, I don’t buy $150+ bottles of wine at all (unless you’re talking Cerbaiona), and certainly wouldn’t pay that kind of price for this, but this drinks in every respect like an outstanding $50-ish bottle of wine. It’s not a “nice” wine for your pork chop…it’s much more in line with an Amarone–either a finisher/dessert wine (sans sweetness) or a stand-alone wine of contemplation. I’ve got to say, that despite my expectations this is truly an outstanding bottle of wine that I would put in the 95 pt range and would be happy to substitute for an Amarone whenever such a wine is called for. Unlike Amarone, there is really NO “raisin”-ness to this wine.