2002 Marquis-Phillips Shiraz

[Drew]

This wine's too big and bad for me and I doubt that it will ever be nice. Purple/black opaque in the glass. Alcohol, dark fruit and wood on the nose. Really disjointed flavors of blackberry, vanilla, caramel, toasted oak. Thick and alcoholic in the mouth with a long burnt, bitter finish. This is like the Frankenstein Goliath of wines with a Jekyl-Hyde personality. Doesn't even resemble the 2001 effort which, admittedly, is a fruit bomb, but a very tasty one. 15.5% [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/eek.gif[/img] Alc/vol. $15. Sampled by 7 friends in Ocean City...none liked it. I think Sparky, Sarah and Dan blew this one.

Drew

[ShortWiner]

Thanks, Drew. I couldn't find the 2001 last year after everybody went crazy for it. Saw the 2002 last week and was considering trying it, but now I'll avoid it.

[eskinnyc]

Sorry Drew, but I downed the 02 Shiraz last night and liked it very much. When I first poured it, my initial assessment was much like yours, too big, too hot (15.5% alcohol!), and generally out of balance. But after an hour or so, it calmed down a lot, revealing a soft, lush character, with a long finish and restrained but well-integrated fruit. Definitely not a fruit bomb.

Wasn't able to find the 2001 so I can't compare it to last year's, but if you're patient this wine will pay off, and I think its a tremendous value at the $15 price point.

Caveat emptor.

[ShortWiner]

OK, so I forgot about this thread and bought the wine, but I did come and do a search before opening, so I knew I had to give it some breathing time. Decanted and let it set for about 1.5 hours while we had appetizers and and lovely bottle from is-wine (see the Italian thread), and I grillpanned strip steaks and made very good (if I may so so) pan sauce.

The wine was a bruiser, alright, all oak and alcohol. Some at our dinner party were impressed by the sheer size of the wine, but no one was taken with it. We didn't even finish the bottle (the 6 of us!), and some said they felt the steak was overwhelmed by it. I agree--the sweet vanilla sawdust in this wine dominates everything. Disappointing.