Shirazathon Notes

[wondersofwine]

I attended a special Australian wine tasting in Raleigh May 2nd. Forgot to bring my notes with me but here are some of the high points. We sampled over 20 wines--two semillion, one unoaked chardonnay, and the rest were one merlot, cabernet sauvignons, shiraz or red blends. The $25 charge was waived if you purchased a number of wines that evening.
I may have to revise my attitude on cabs--preferred the Henry's Drive c.s and reserve c.s. to the Henry's Drive shiraz. Would give the 2000 Henry's Drive Reserve Cabernet ($44.99) about 18-18.5 points on a 20-point scale. I also liked the 1998 Irvine Grand Merlot ($59.99) described as Australia's greatest merlot and huge. Liked the Parson's Flat Cabernet/Shiraz blend ($39.99)--another wine from Sparky Marquis who makes the Henry's Drive wines. Four more shiraz wines I liked (bought two of them to take home): 1999 Clos Clare Shiraz ($29.99) rated 95 points by Halliday; 2000 Tin Shed "Single Wire" Shiraz ($39.99) described as big, concentrated wine but unusually polished at the same time; 2000 Jones "LJ" shiraz ($39.99)described as big and pretty with pure, real "fruit" fruit, and 1999 Kay Brothers "Hillside" Shiraz ($49.99). Another blend we tried was the 2000 Massena "Moonlight Run" ($29.99) described as a wonderful Rhone blend from Dan Standish. Big, powerful wine. I agreed that it was big and powerful but it wasn't to my taste. I also disliked the 1998 Tatachilla "McLaren Vale" cabernet sauvignon ($19.99) which Australian critic James Halliday rated 97 points, as high as any in his recent Wine Companion. To me the wine tasted bitter.