Australians in Q4 2006

Rosemount 2000 McLaren Vale Barossa Valley, GSM ($18?, WC) : WS 91. Started out closed with simple dark fruit and leathery earth. After 2 hours has opened up quite nicely. Medium bodied with a hint of richness amongs the smooth complexity of fruit, spice, wood, leather and more. In the GSM profile. Long elegant, slighty acidic finish. Alcoholic nose of sweet fruit, pepper and more. An interesting wine. [B- to B].

Two Hands 2003 Barossa Valley The Lucky Country, GSM ($11?, WC) : WS 84. Low-medium bodied. Medium flavors of classic low-end GSM flavors of darkish fruit with leather and a hint of hot spiciness. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this wine but I'm still not thrilled. [C+].
In contrast, the Cab-Shiraz based Lucky Country from the same winery was rich and wonderful.

Penfolds 2001 Winemaker's Reserve South Australian, Shiraz ($8, TJ) - Found this in a TJ in Sonoma, which surprisingly had a lousier wine selection than the outlets in Silicon Valley. Overall a tasty medium bodied Shiraz with a nice lingering after taste. After 30 min, classic Shiraz fruit with some brown spice and oak. I'd get two more bottles. [B].

D'Arenberg 2002 Footbolt, Shiraz ($14 WC) - WS 88. Light body, jazzy (aka acidic) style of shiraz. Red berry with some pepper. Minerality on the nose. Not my style of shiraz. [C].

Marquis Philips 2004 Sarah's Blend, Shiraz/Cab ($13 WC) - WS 82, Parker 91. Hmm... which critic would I agree with? Their 2003 SE Aust Cab was a favorite of mine but their 2003 Shiraz not so much. Needless to say this was a dense, rich dark berry with bits of leather, tar and black olive and some noticable smooth tannins. I liked it alot but didn't love it. It did not soften much after 90 minutes. I got several bottles for $9 at the WC making this a [B+].
Had a second bottle a few days later (10/24?/06) and it was even better if anything. Slightly smoother with a hint of sweetness, but less of the complexity and tannins. Tasty stuff. [A-].

Jacob's Creek 2002 ReserveShiraz ($9 WC) - WS 88. Back in 2005, I had a few bottles and I liked each one more than the previous. Rich, lush with purple berries, some oak and obvious vanilla. Wow. [A]. I tried to find more but it was pretty much sold out. I got the impression a few years of bottle age would helped soften it, too based on a similar experience with the 2001 Shiraz.

Jacob's Creek 2003 ReserveShiraz ($9 WC) - WS 91 making this a super deal. I tried a bottle 6 months ago and was disappointed [B-]. But given my fondness for the 2002, I bought bit more and tried another bottle on 10/23/2006. This big, burly, dark purple wine definitely needs to age a bit. Initially: dark berries with a hint of sweetness and chocolate off and on throughout. The big tannins got stronger over the next few hours and the wine closed down a bit (maybe my taste buds were tiring). Next morning, it had softened a bit but was still very big. The next night after sitting out in an open bottle for 24h it was still very drinkable. The finish was decently long throughout. I was impressed enough to buy 6 more bottles, but don't tell my wife. [A-].

Lehmans 2002 Shiraz ($14?, WC) - Mineral and purple berry nose. Med-big and rich with a nice smooth finish. Refined shiraz flavors of berry with spice. Gains some oaky vanilla notes. Nice. [B].

Lehmans 2001 Shiraz ($18, Bottle Shoppe) - I found tha bottle of the 2001 on a business trip to West Lafayette (Purdue) Indiana, whch has a surprisingly good wine store (Bottle Shoppe). I snapped it up, as I hoped it had some nice bottle aging. It was everything I could have hoped for in a mature Lehmans: a burnished color with a rich texture with a long finish. A rusty berry fruit (in a good way) that was big and smooth. The aftertaste kept running through my mind at the restaurant I was at 30 minutes later. Gorgeous. Sadly, I don't think I'll find another bottle, ever. Would be ranked higher but it was a bit pricy. [B+ to A-].

Pirramimma 2001 Mclaren Vale, Shiraz ($18, WC; WS90) - Had high expectations. Opened up after 45 minutes. Not much nose and little initial taste. Everything was in the finish. Dark wood with dark fruit followed by a smooth tannic finish. Probably could have used another few years. Best after 2 hours. Not so good the following day. [B-].