2003 Marquis-Philips Sarah's Blend

[newsguy]

($14.99, blend of predominantly shiraz, with cabernet sauvignon and merlot) blackish garnet, nearly opaque. full, sweet nose of cream, cherry, blackberry, with blueberry lurking. similar flavors, with black pepper and spice leading the way to the fruit. very good entry, midpalate and finish. good acidity; no tannins noticed.

also noted is a slight, persistent bitter note in the finish and the fact that black pepper became more prominent over time -- neither of which i liked. also, this wine seemed disjointed, and this issue did not resolve with time (neither after spending the night with the vacuvin and then 2 further hours decanting). while this wine is very young, i don't know that it will ever quite come together. there's all the concentration you expect from a MP wine, but this doesn't measure up to their shiraz. 88+


[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 07-28-2004).]

[Thomas]

Interesting--that wine gets a lot of word of mouth.

But I wonder at something you posted about vacuvin. If that thing is supposed to work to preserve wine, why did you expect it to act as an oxidizer? In my view it is better at performing the latter function than the one it is designed to perform!

[newsguy]

foodie: i am a realist and know that the vacuvin does allow some oxidation to occur while storing wine. that's why i noted this is how the wine was stored, allowing it to "age" just a little overnight. i know i really should go with a private preserve-type system, but have found that if i pour the leftover wine into a half bottle and full up to the base of the neck, then pump it with the vacuvin, it usually keeps very well. didn't do that with this wine.

[Thomas]

Yeah, newsie, but I'll bet you'd get the same results from that half bottle trick if you stopped using the vacuvin [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/eek.gif[/img]



[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 07-28-2004).]

[Thomas]

Yeah, newsie, but I'll bet you'd get the same results if you stopped using the vacuvin [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/eek.gif[/img]

[newsguy]

so, i guess what you're saying is that when my current vacuvin goes, i shouldn't be shopping for a replacement? [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

[winoweenie]

Stepping in on both lines;1) Newsie since their first release this pair has seemed to have become the mad scientists of Aussie-Land. Since the S2 2001 release I've passed on all of their products as they are over-blown even for me. And 2) The vacu-Vin is about as worthless for preeserving wine as putting me in the cellar with a corkscrew.
Even the Private Preserve only does it for short periods. WW

[Drew]

Keith, decant young MP wines for 2+ days and then try em'. You'll be surprised of the positive results.

DRew

[newsguy]

WW: i know what you mean, but i've been a sucker for their wines in the past. the '01 shiraz is drinking like liquid gold right now. only have 3 bottles left and wish i had bought more than one case.

drew: i agree about decanting these babies. but in the past, i found that even an hour or two in the decanter calmed them down enough to enjoy on release. but this '03 sarah's just doesn't seem to do it for me. guess i'll stick to the regular shiraz, the shiraz 9 and the S2 cab from this vintage. BTW, if you've had a bottle of the '01 S2 recently, i'd like to know what you thought about it. i had one about a month ago and did not like how it was ageing. thought it was better on release. still have 3 bottles left myself.


[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 07-29-2004).]

[Drew]

Actually I have no bottles of the S2 and only 1 left of the #9 which I won't touch until who knows...

Drew

[winoweenie]

Remind me next week and I'll open one and report. WW

[Kcwhippet]

Talk to me about the S2, folks. We got 5 cases dumped at the shop yesterday that I had to back stock.

[winoweenie]

Which vintage KC??? Sheesh... weese gonna' start makin' you post on the novice board wif omissions like 'dat. [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]WW

[Kcwhippet]

I didn't give the year because I don't recall (doesn't that sound like a presidential cop out!). However, I believe it's the 02. Regardless, I haven't had it yet and I was wondering if it's worth a try. Actually, I suppose just about any wine is worth a try since I get a good employee discount. Now that I think about it, not every wine is worth a try. We have some of the low carb One.9 and One.6, as well as others of that caliber, and I don't think I'd really want to try them at any price.

[winoweenie]

Will post on the 01 next week. Didn't like the 02 as it was way over the top for me. WW

[newsguy]

WW: here's your reminder to post on the '01 S2

[winoweenie]

Tankee..... Will does!!!. WW

[Drew]

I've only bought a couple bottles of the MP Cab and passed on the Shiraz, too big and ugly for me. Also gonna let em sleep for a while and probably do a vertical and compare.

Drew

[winoweenie]

A little early but will stand a bottle in the outgoing basket and report. WW

[newsguy]

my regular wine shop was supposed to set aside for me a case each of the sarah's and the regular shiraz when they came in. apparently that happened when i was away on vacation. they have a case of the sarah's for me but sold all of the shiraz, including *my* case, when i was gone. i am *not* happy and will tell them i'll buy the case of the sarah's if they also find me a case of the shiraz, as i had asked. if not, they can keep the sarah's. didn't care for the '03 much.