Flinders Run Southern Flinders Ranges Shiraz 2005
This continues to be one of our absolute favorite and most enjoyable drinking wines in our cellar with a huge QPR (Quality Price Ratio). Each time I pull a bottle I wonder if it will be good as I remember and the answer is always, yes. I remember discovering this wine downstate and picking up a bottle to try, then going back for more, and more, eventually buying out the store. I then found it on-line and purchased more, then convinced our local merchant Binny's to pick it up, and I bought them out too.
My Cellartracker records show I have acquired more than seven cases of this, sharing much of it with my wine buddies over the years. I still hold a couple cases and pull each bottle guardedly, savoring each tasting. Tonight was no different, still holding its own in its tenth year, seeming as good as ever, and pleasing as much as any time before. It reminds me a lot of the Kilikanoon Oracle, another favorite, but at almost twice the price, that was best of the evening, at our recent gala Syrah tasting last month. Regretably, I haven't seen this offered since these earlier discoveries. You can see my posts of previous tastings of Flinders here.
While I tasted this with the left over bone-in rib-eye steak from last weekend, it was superb with simple dark chocolate baking chips and the decadent Dove bar dark chocolate covered blueberries. It is great with food but this wine is so flavorful, its a meal all by itself, with any accompaniment.
Consistent with my last two tasting notes over the last two years ...
Dark inky colour - full bodied, elegant rich thick chewy - symphony of flavors of sweet currant, ripe plum, red raspberry, blueberry, a layer of mocha accented by hints of pepper, vanilla, and spice, and a lingering essence of creme brulee' and cedar on the long full soft finish. Now seven years old with a bit of age, this wine is smoother, more polished and more approachable than earlier tastings when young.
While more subdued than the bigger '06, it retains all the nuances and character it exhibited in its youth - nicely balanced, polished, and flavorful. While the fruit is not as big and bold as its follow on vintage, the '05 still holds full, dense, complex layers of blue and black berry fruits, accented by licorice, hints of black pepper, and tones of black tea and what Parker refers to as 'pain grillé' which is the French word for 'toast'.
RM 93 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=421985
This continues to be one of our absolute favorite and most enjoyable drinking wines in our cellar with a huge QPR (Quality Price Ratio). Each time I pull a bottle I wonder if it will be good as I remember and the answer is always, yes. I remember discovering this wine downstate and picking up a bottle to try, then going back for more, and more, eventually buying out the store. I then found it on-line and purchased more, then convinced our local merchant Binny's to pick it up, and I bought them out too.
My Cellartracker records show I have acquired more than seven cases of this, sharing much of it with my wine buddies over the years. I still hold a couple cases and pull each bottle guardedly, savoring each tasting. Tonight was no different, still holding its own in its tenth year, seeming as good as ever, and pleasing as much as any time before. It reminds me a lot of the Kilikanoon Oracle, another favorite, but at almost twice the price, that was best of the evening, at our recent gala Syrah tasting last month. Regretably, I haven't seen this offered since these earlier discoveries. You can see my posts of previous tastings of Flinders here.
While I tasted this with the left over bone-in rib-eye steak from last weekend, it was superb with simple dark chocolate baking chips and the decadent Dove bar dark chocolate covered blueberries. It is great with food but this wine is so flavorful, its a meal all by itself, with any accompaniment.
Dark inky colour - full bodied, elegant rich thick chewy - symphony of flavors of sweet currant, ripe plum, red raspberry, blueberry, a layer of mocha accented by hints of pepper, vanilla, and spice, and a lingering essence of creme brulee' and cedar on the long full soft finish. Now seven years old with a bit of age, this wine is smoother, more polished and more approachable than earlier tastings when young.
While more subdued than the bigger '06, it retains all the nuances and character it exhibited in its youth - nicely balanced, polished, and flavorful. While the fruit is not as big and bold as its follow on vintage, the '05 still holds full, dense, complex layers of blue and black berry fruits, accented by licorice, hints of black pepper, and tones of black tea and what Parker refers to as 'pain grillé' which is the French word for 'toast'.
RM 93 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=421985