Wine Course Reds #4
These are the last two reds that I haven't reviewed from the second night of the Wine Course put on by Tony Harper of The Wine Emporium.
Tyrrells Rufus Stone Shiraz 2004 (Heathcote VIC)
Rasberries and mulberry on the nose (and maybe a hint of eucalyptus - evidence of some terroir?? - either that or a dirty great gum tree in the vineyard).
Big berry fruit sweetness with gentle tannins but still with good length. If I could sum the wine up in one word - succulent!! It was very nice and definitely one of the best Rufus Stone Heathcote vintages yet. At $22 would I buy again? You bet!!
(Many thanks to Maria-Teresa Di Mauro of Tyrrells for the photo and the kind permission to use it)
Mad Dog Shiraz 2004 (Barossa SA)
There was rasberry to the left of me, rasberry to the right - here I am stuck in the middle with you! (Maybe this is a newly discovered talent - using songs to describe wines - although only ever happened once before but it was at the same wine course with the Provenance Shiraz).
There was rasberries on the nose and your initial taste suggests plush, sweet rasberries. This wine gushes rasberries (there - have I said it enough - do you have the picture?). The tannins were good and firm and there was good complexity and intensity (if you hadn't already guessed). At $35 it is a little on the expensive side compared to some of the value at lesser prices BUT compared to other $35 wines it certainly holds its own! YUM!
Wine Course - Conclusions
I must thank Tony Harper and the Wine Emporium for putting on the course and running it so well - all the wines were superb (with the exception of one Chardonnay - but that is my personal taste).
I must also thank the other attendees of the course for helping to analyse all the wines. As I said in an earlier post, the analysing of the wines and tasting notes was really a collective effort. The notes I have written were mainly reached by consensus amongst the group with some gentle guiding from Tony. All in all it has been a most enjoyable experience and I hope to do some more courses in the future.
The important thing for me is that I believe I did learn a lot. Even though I still struggle to describe what I am smelling and tasting I believe I am getting better at discerning the different characteristics of the different components to each wine. I may well be way off (compared to those who really do know something about wine) in my assessments, but at least the mistakes are my own - I can live with that. Whether you agree with any of my tasting notes or not I have had fun doing the research!!
Until next time - live well and drink well!!
Tyrrells Rufus Stone Shiraz 2004 (Heathcote VIC)Rasberries and mulberry on the nose (and maybe a hint of eucalyptus - evidence of some terroir?? - either that or a dirty great gum tree in the vineyard).
Big berry fruit sweetness with gentle tannins but still with good length. If I could sum the wine up in one word - succulent!! It was very nice and definitely one of the best Rufus Stone Heathcote vintages yet. At $22 would I buy again? You bet!!
(Many thanks to Maria-Teresa Di Mauro of Tyrrells for the photo and the kind permission to use it)
Mad Dog Shiraz 2004 (Barossa SA)
There was rasberry to the left of me, rasberry to the right - here I am stuck in the middle with you! (Maybe this is a newly discovered talent - using songs to describe wines - although only ever happened once before but it was at the same wine course with the Provenance Shiraz).
There was rasberries on the nose and your initial taste suggests plush, sweet rasberries. This wine gushes rasberries (there - have I said it enough - do you have the picture?). The tannins were good and firm and there was good complexity and intensity (if you hadn't already guessed). At $35 it is a little on the expensive side compared to some of the value at lesser prices BUT compared to other $35 wines it certainly holds its own! YUM!
Wine Course - Conclusions
I must thank Tony Harper and the Wine Emporium for putting on the course and running it so well - all the wines were superb (with the exception of one Chardonnay - but that is my personal taste).
I must also thank the other attendees of the course for helping to analyse all the wines. As I said in an earlier post, the analysing of the wines and tasting notes was really a collective effort. The notes I have written were mainly reached by consensus amongst the group with some gentle guiding from Tony. All in all it has been a most enjoyable experience and I hope to do some more courses in the future.
The important thing for me is that I believe I did learn a lot. Even though I still struggle to describe what I am smelling and tasting I believe I am getting better at discerning the different characteristics of the different components to each wine. I may well be way off (compared to those who really do know something about wine) in my assessments, but at least the mistakes are my own - I can live with that. Whether you agree with any of my tasting notes or not I have had fun doing the research!!
Until next time - live well and drink well!!
posted by Mal at 8:38 AM
2 Comments:
Given that we often seem to have similar tastes in reds, I might pick up a bottle of the Rufus Stone.
Murray
You won't be disappointed! The Rufus Stone (Heathcote) was great!
I haven't yet tried the Rufus Stone Shiraz (McLaren Vale)2004 but intend to.
Cheers!
MalB
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