A tale of two wines

I've had three bottles of the Jacob's Creek 2003 Reserve Shiraz. I've loved the last two vintages of this and when Wine Spectator gave the 2003 a 91, it was a no brainer for me to buy a good bit of this for $8. I think I bought 8-10 bottles in two different batches. And then the trouble started. WS said to wait a bit on this, so I did.

Bottle 1: in early 2007 was thin, acidic and a huge disappointment. I felt like a fool for buying so much of this. Score: 80.

Bottle 2: in a blind tasting in early Oct. Warm mulled apple cider with cloves and cinnamon and ginger in a soft berry wrapping = nose. Just super. Tastes a bit more dirty initially,
but good dark berry with some spiciness. Score: 90 with a nose of 92. Now I know what the WS tasted.

Bottle 3: tonight, 10/30/2007. Another blind tasting. A very strange wine. Minimal nose and flavor but fairly rich in texture. Smooth and easy to drink, but like somebody magically removed most of the flavor. Score: 86.


Things get more interesting when I realized bottles 1 and 3, the not so impressive bottles, had a black labelling but bottle 2 had a red labelling. Are these really the same wine?