1998 James Irvine Grand Merlot, South Australia

[wondersofwine]

This wine from Eden Valley, South Australia is a high-end (pricy) import. (I paid almost $60 for it in 2002.)
See from another web site: http://www.theage.com.au/news/epicure/ "The excitement was palpable at a seminar on merlot held by the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology in 2002, after which acres of newsprint was expended on the proposition that merlot was the Next Big Thing.

But since then, merlot has elicited nothing more than a derisive shrug. At the Royal Sydney Wine Show this year, English wine judge Matthew Jukes had only this to say about Australian merlot: "Let's move on."

But Jukes says Australia can make wonderful merlot. "The two Australian merlots worth drinking are Jim Irvine's Grand Merlot and the Domaine A Merlot* from Tasmania," he says."

I saw one bottle of this offered for only $15 on wine bid but the 1997 was offered at $25 or $50 and the 1988 at $95.

14.5% alcohol
Dry cork was difficult to extract but didn't leave much in the way of cork debris. To be on the safe side I double decanted and poured through a tea sieve.

Purple black and opaque.
Cherry and dark plum on the nose. Even though chilled before dinner (since I don't yet have a cellar with proper temp.), was quite aromatic as soon as I opened it. Good fruit and structure. Cedar shavings along with the fruit. Somewhat more depth than the recent California examples I've tried. May be hitting its peak but could possibly hold another five years or more. One to savor on the palate. Fine particles that look grape flesh or skin related rather than stemmy. My mental recall of the first tasting of this at an Australian wine event in 2002 is not clear enough to judge further development in the four intervening years. I liked it then and I like it now. It paired nicely with broiled New York strip steak with mushrooms and steak sauce and a baked potato with butter. Probably a wine RP would like. It has been described as Australia's greatest merlot and huge.
It came elegantly wrapped in red tissue paper with a red and gold seal matching the seal on the bottle.