Tag Archives: Shaw + Smith

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Wine Review :: The #LAT10 Landmark Tutorial Series :: 2006 Shaw + Smith Shiraz

As you may or may not know, this week the Landmark Australia Tutorial is taking place in the Yarra Valley. Many of the world’s top wine writers/critics/buyers will taste their way through a treasure trove of some of the best Australian wine ever made. For more detailed information and/or to follow the event, check out http://www.landmark-wineaustralia.com/

To celebrate, i’ll be posting up tasting notes of any of the wines that I have tasted that are also being tasted at the Landmark Tutorial. Which won’t be many, as i’ve already polished off my dozen of each of the following classic wines featured at the tasting!

  • 1976 Yalumba Signature Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Barossa Valley
  • 1986 Yalumba Signature Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Barossa Valley/Coonawarra
  • 1987 Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, South Australia
  • 1986 Riddoch Cabernet/Shiraz, Coonawarra
  • 1966 Saltram Bin 42 Shiraz/Muscadelle, South Australia
  • 1975 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, South Australia
  • 1998 Wendouree Shiraz/Mataro, Clare Valley

But, the 2006 Shaw + Smith is still a very, very good wine… Seek it out as it’s drinking beautifully now and will continue to do so over the next ten years.

PS :: I’ve tried a slightly different style for this review in an attempt to capture some of the joy and wonderment that the participants of the Landmark Australia Tutorial feel when tasting such extraordinary wines.

2006 Shaw + Smith Adelaide Hills Shiraz

Aromas :: Imagine walking into a store filled with the finest cured and roasted meats. You walk up to the counter. Instead of asking for your order, the person at the counter instead starts smearing you dark cherry jam, violets, white pepper, blueberries and an uplifting mix of five spice and anise. The aromas combine with the cured and roasted meats. It’s intoxicating, and your anger at being smeared by the person at the counter with sticky jam, fruit and spices is replaced with the joy of having your olfactory system filled to the brim with wondrous aromas.

Palate :: Integrity. It’s a commodity in ever decreasing supply in our world. In a wine, put simply, integrity is when a wine tastes like it smells. It has flow. Continuity. A combination of the elements of smell and taste that lift the wine to a higher realm. This wine has integrity. Imagine scrapping the blueberries, dark cherry jam, white pepper, five spice and anise from your shirt and placing them in a blender. Take small slivers from the finest cured meats and add them. Add a dash of pure silk, a dollop of clinically defined tannin, a pinch of length, a handful of richness and cup of balance. Blend until smooth before decanting into your finest glassware. Close you eyes and bring the glass to your lips. The liquid enters your mouth. All is forgotten… Bliss.

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Wine Events :: Adelaide Hills :: Winter Reds Weekend


ADELAIDE HILLS EVENTS


Winter Reds Weekend :: Warm to the Red Wines of the Adelaide Hills


Now this is what the Adelaide Hills should really be known for. Red Wine. Sure they grow Sauvignon Blanc that is pleasing to fans of that varietal. That stuff sells itself these days. And they make some of the best Chardonnay in Australia. I’ll let Penfolds/Fosters (and their marketing dollars) push that one along.

So what red grapes do they grow well in the Adelaide Hills? It is a cool climate region after all, isn’t it? Well, technically yes. Ask anyone who has fallen asleep outside in the middle of winter after overindulging in Adelaide Hills Wines whether or not it’s a cool climate region! So being a cool slimate region, they should grow decent Pinot Noir? Right? Damn right. But do they get the credit, dollars and prestige of the superstar wineries of Mornington Peninsula/Yarra Valley/Geelong/Tasmania? Nope. Should they? Hell yes. Ashton Hills, Whisson Lakes and Barratt are three of the finest producers of Pinot in this country.

What about other grape varieties? Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon normally thrive in warm climate regions you may say. But this is where the Adelaide Hills landscape comes into it’s own. A scenic drive through the Hills shows a myriad of altitudes, valleys, peaks, aspects, soil types and prevailing weather conditions. This variety means that with careful site selection almost any red variety can be grown in the Adelaide Hills. Shiraz? Shaw + Smith, Petaluma, Setanta, Kersbrook Hill, Ngeringa and more all produce stunning examples of Shiraz that are regularly rated amongst the best in the country by esteemed critics. They may not be the ball tearing blockbusters of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale but they match brilliantly with food and have more elegance and complexity than you can shake a stick at. Cabernet is an exciting variety, especially when blended. Tilbrook make a cracking Sangiovese Cabernet, K1 by Geoff Hardy’s Tzimmukin is delicious and Chain Of Ponds The Cachet has been rated as one of the top Cabernet blends in the country by James Halliday.

So do yourself a favour, expand your palette and spend a day or two in the Adelaide Hills when she is at her finest.

Check out all the details at http://www.adelaidehillswine.com.au/downloads/winter_reds.pdf