Category: Shiraz

2019 Giant Steps Syrah Carignan Grenache

Sometimes the sum of the parts in a blend can be more than the individual bits, maybe. Despite thinking Pinot Noir is complete in its own wonder, I must admit to really enjoying some of the more recent Pinot and Shiraz blends from the Yarra Valley. This proved to be another delicious bottle of mixing things up. Perhaps made to be drunk in its vigorous youth, lots of what seems to be whole berries, it nonetheless was still fresh and remarkably deep a few years on. Lots of vivid very ripe raspberries, some mint and touch of pepper trimmed by some sappy stem herbs. Lush and for want of a better word, slurpable. Gentle skin tannin and acidity. Hard to stop sipping until the bottles all gone. It’s nice to go travelling but it’s just a good to drink local at home.

13.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $35 ish.

93 points but more delicious than some with more points.

1984 Mitchell Watervale Vineyard Shiraz

A long established winery making well priced bottles without quite the fuss they deserve. Organic, dry grown and handpicked fruit should make them fashionable but somehow not the case. This appeared at auction and looked good in terms of fill level and label in tact. So old, the label predates the Peppetree Vineyard name that seemed so evocative in the late eighties. There’s always a bit of happy trepidation opening an oldie, just how crumbly is the cork? I struck an unusually in tact version that squeezed out in one piece and no leaks. There was still a lot of life in the drink, nice faded red colour, lovely old claret style red fruit hanging on, Clare red cherry, white pepper seasoning and still some rum and raisin oak, just a whiff of America. The acidity and tannins crisp and well integrated. What a lucky one. Fun lottery.

12.5% alcohol. Cork. $18 at auction.

92 points.

2015 Domaine Grand Nicolet Côtes du Rhône

Some but certainly not all 2015 CdRs have had a fresh and deeply fruity edge that’s hung on really well with age. Mostly Grenache and Syrah with bits of Carignan and Cinsault it seems, this was a direct import from Nick’s Wine Merchants in Melbourne. For those of us with long memories of local wine retailers from the 1990s, Nick’s was famous for the line, “Nick’s nose knows” and the use of a weird tasting word of their own, “joosy”. They also did well riding the wave of enthusiasm for huge, high alcohol Australian wine. This still looks fresh and alarmingly balanced for a Nick’s offering. Sour cherry, kirsch and a sooty depth that sort of reminds me of the best of Priorat. Pure, fresh and bound by good skin tannin tied to just right acidity. Hanging on well, like Nick’s now solely on line business. Those old shops are much missed for easy access to some good imports. Notice Nick’s are still importing Nicolet. Do wonder if the 2021 is just as “joosy”?

14% alcohol. Cork. $15 a while ago, bargain.

92 points.

2018 Yves Cuilleron Syrah Les Vignes d’à Côté

Opened at the same time as the Gravity Ghost Syrah, it’s an interesting example of how the changing climate is messing with perceptions of ripeness. 2018 was one of the hottest years in southern France and makes this look a bit like it comes from Coonawarra rather than a cooler corner of the Rhône. Lots of ripe blackberries, earthy bass with a hint of that sort of tar that lurks in good Australian Shiraz. Stone and a crumble of ripe tannins held in place by natural feeling acidity that maybe still tells of the Rhône? Very good value as usual.

13.5% alcohol. Diam. $30.

92 points.

2021 Gravity Ghost Syrah

Another less than objective opinion about a lovely human’s recent vintage efforts. Opens cleanly with a strong waft of Australian bush or terroir if you prefer. Fresh and aromatic. More than just gum trees, there’s fresh spices, sweet earthiness and wet undergrowth overlaying a core of dark raspberries with a bit of plum. Just medium weight. Same flavours as it hits the tongue together with more woody stem spice. A natural feel to soft insistent acidity and powder fine tannin. From a cooler year perhaps but no greenness intrudes. A gentle drink with enough perfumed fruit and warm savouriness to make an impression. Haunting perhaps.

13% alcohol. Screw cap. Somewhere between $25 and 30 I think? Got a bit lost in some swaps where I came out the better off as usual.

92 with a shout for 93 in time.

2021 Bandesh Time to Fly Shiraz

It’s worth reading articles by Max Allen in the AFR and Anna Bailey in the Guardian where Farhad Bandesh’s arduous journey from Kurdish Iran to making wine in Australia gets some sympathetic coverage. How he survived about eight years detention as a refugee on the hell of Manus Island and still smiles when talking about Australian wine and its supportive people is extraordinary. He had a stall at a local farmers’ market one cold damp Saturday recently. It was a privilege to buy a couple of bottles and reflect on how we take such free choices for granted. Well, not only a tough, lovely human, Farhad can make very good wine too. Quite rich and ripe for a Yarra Valley Shiraz. Plenty of summer pudding berries and custard. Spice and a clean finish of intermingled fine acidity and tannin. Even when it’s pretty ripe, the Yarra Valley seems to imbue its gentle fresh touch. Just a delicious Shiraz. I also bought a 2022 Time to Fly Shiraz made from the same Grampians vineyard as Rory Lane from The Story sources his fruit, picked at the same time. Every bit as deeply red fruited and entrancingly peppery as you’d want. Didn’t take a note but happy to buy another.

14% alcohol. Diam. $35 and worth every cent.

93 points but so much more than just points. Survive and thrive.

Farhad’s wines and spirits are available on line at

bandeshwineandspirits.com

2018 Eden Road The Long Road Syrah

Another inexpensive bottle, thanks to auction luck, to test the recovering olfactories. Gentle scents of blackberry and other summer joys, some nutty savoury treats and a touch of chocolate. Only medium bodied and an unforced caress of stony acidity with perhaps a touch of ripe stem tannin. All in harmony. In no way trying to be more than it can and charms in so doing. Less can be nice.

13% alcohol. Screw cap. $15 at auction, happy days.

92 points.

2021 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz

Stricken by flu, then a nasty encounter with the major pandemic can really damage your mood, your sense of smell and any confidence in a return to anything like objective tasting, should there be such a thing? A gentle and familiar toe in the water then in good old Wynns Shiraz. Still so enormously discounted that there’s no serious loss if it tastes as bad as my normal coffee drink did for a while. Phew, it tastes like red wine. In particular, starts with low key blackberry and plum jam with a touch of earthy tar all put firmly in place with a rasp of lemony acidity and green herb fine tannin. In time, there’s more bright red fruit, pepper and the acidity tends to freshen instead of jar. Tannins are nicely bound. A friend fancied the 2021 Reframed Shiraz x Riesling version brought to mind the North end of the Rhone valley. There’s a parallel here maybe in terms of just over the line ripeness and freshness within the boundaries of local flavours. Still a bargain with a sense of real grapes rather than an industrial recipe. Coffee tastes good too now.

13.6% alcohol. Screw cap. $13.

89 points.

2018 Domaine Georges Vernay Les Fleurs du Mai Syrah Des Collines Rhodaniennes IGP

One of the most respected Condrieu producers who also make great Côte Rotie which I’ve been lucky enough to drink just once. This bottle appeared on the Langtons auction site. To follow the old Clive Coates maxim that you should seek the colder sites in hot years I made a bid. It seemed oddly appropriate as November is our May in the inverted Southern Hemisphere. Maybe a flowery omen? My $28 bid won to my eyebrow raising surprise as googling revealed you can still buy a bottle in Melbourne for $65, lucky me. Clean and extravagantly smelly on opening. Just so ripe raspberries, exotic spice bazaar fragrances and incense, blimey. Flowers and smoke. Hints of liquorice too. Just medium bodied, it tightens across the tongue and floats off on wisps of high resolution tannin with both the flavour and acidity of really ripe and dark blood orange. Incredibly good grapes coaxed into my lucky glass with no mucking about, great lightness of touch. Two words, clarity and focus. How good is their Côte Rotie these days?

13% alcohol. Diam. $28, like winning a lottery.

93 points to start, easy 94 to 95 as the bottle went down.

2015 Innocent Bystander Syrah

When this was first released it was a cracking buy close to $20 when discounted. The very good 2015 vintage fruit looked round, poised and filled the senses with vinous joy with the whole bunch herb and woody spice adding a satisfying counterpoint. I must admit to fretting a bit about how these cooler, or should that be less hot, vineyard Shiraz progress with time in the bottle? Must admit to enjoy calling it Shiraz, it seems to add to the debate, hee hee. Let’s see. Dusty bottle age lifts to perfumed spice, stems or Shiraz spice or a bit of both? Loads of tart red fruits like an English pudding sit fat on the tongue, still fresh and bright. Some pepper and more of that spice too. The end and overall texture are drawn tight by some sour green stem tannin and acidity. Wether this is a pleasant tension or a distraction from some beautiful fruit is open to discussion for me. I found a tech sheet that says 40% whole bunch, so it’s there to some extent. I think I preferred this in its bouncy youth as I do a lot of Australian red wine. Fascinating to get the chance to compare and contemplate. Serious business this wine thing.

13.8% alcohol. Screw cap. $26 at auction.

91 to 93 points depending on whole bunch enjoyment?