BBQ Ribs and Syrah Syrah - Clarendon Hills Piggott Range and Marquis Philips '9'
The family gathered for son Ryan's birthday and Linda served Salmon and BBQ Ribs with buttered potatoes, asparagus and baked beans. Ryan and I went down in the cellar and he picked out two wines he wanted to try as an accompaniment.
With the BBQ ribs, son Ryan chose from our cellar two Australian Mclaren Vale Shiraz' - a Clarendon Hills Piggott Range and a Marquis Phillips '9' - both from the 2004 vintage.
Clarendon Hills Piggott Range Shiraz 2004
As written in my earlier tasting, this luscious Australian Syrah was given a 96 point rating by Robert Parker, stating "A
superstar effort, it reveals off-the-chart richness, complexity and
intensity. Floral-scented, exhibiting a distinctive minerality along
with wonderful blackberry and cassis fruit, and a hint of wood. The
mid-palate and finish are both long, textured and intense. It needs 2-3
years of bottle age and should keep for a minimum of 2 decades."
Consistent with earlier notes, this exhibited a rich dark purple color, full bodied, and full smooth polished aromas and flavors of raspberries, blueberry, blueberries and smoked meat with notes of spice and floral elements with hints of oak with nicely integrated silky tannins on the lingering finish. However, the fruit was more subdued and a bit leaner than the full throttle profile of previous experience a few years ago.
This exhibited a rich dark purple color, full bodied, and full smooth polished aromas and flavors of raspberries, blueberry, blueberries and smoked meat with notes of spice and floral elements with hints of oak with nicely integrated silky tannins on the lingering finish.
It seems with this latest tasting of this label, the fruit seems more ripe or extracted so as to be a bit more raisiny with a subtle tone of graphite or a metallic note - perhaps or most likely attributable to aging at this stage of life - fifteen years of age.
RM 92 points.
http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2012/08/clarendon-hills-clarendon-piggott-range.html
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/10/cityscape-syrah-zin-bbq-ribs-wine.html
Marquis Phillips '9' McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004
Our Cellartracker records show we still hold almost four cases of this label from seven different vintages.
From previous tastings of this release I wrote: "This is huge full bodied, deep dark inky color. Almost overpowering forward over ripe black berry, raisin, blue berry fruits, hints of caramel, vanilla, glycerin and cedar. Firm, full chewy unctuous tongue coating tannins that reveal more blueberry, vanilla, mocha on a long alcohol finish. Begs for bar-b-que or like food."
Similar to the 2004 Piggott Range Shiraz above, this too is starting to show its age and lose some of the vibrancy of its fruit. At fifteen years of age this is starting to show a bit of heat from the alcohol as this starts to wane and pass its prime drinking window.
RM 88 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=144787
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/05/marquis-philips-mclaren-vale-shiraz-2004.html
The family gathered for son Ryan's birthday and Linda served Salmon and BBQ Ribs with buttered potatoes, asparagus and baked beans. Ryan and I went down in the cellar and he picked out two wines he wanted to try as an accompaniment.
With the BBQ ribs, son Ryan chose from our cellar two Australian Mclaren Vale Shiraz' - a Clarendon Hills Piggott Range and a Marquis Phillips '9' - both from the 2004 vintage.
Clarendon Hills Piggott Range Shiraz 2004
As written in my earlier tasting, this luscious Australian Syrah was given a 96 point rating by Robert Parker, stating "A
superstar effort, it reveals off-the-chart richness, complexity and
intensity. Floral-scented, exhibiting a distinctive minerality along
with wonderful blackberry and cassis fruit, and a hint of wood. The
mid-palate and finish are both long, textured and intense. It needs 2-3
years of bottle age and should keep for a minimum of 2 decades."
This winery
Clarendon Hills is the namesake of the town and area around Clarendon
which was established in 1845.
Many of the vineyards surrounding the winery are over seventy
years old; the gnarly and twisted bush vines are dry farmed and the
grapes are hand picked. The soil profiles of each vineyard are very
different with the Piggott Range known for the rock and shale. This is a
hillside vineyard planted
in the 1960's adjacent to the Onkaparinga Valley. The soil there is
notable by it's absence rather predominant with solid rock and shale
torturing the vine roots to reach deep for nutrients to survive. Low
yields rarely exceeding two tonnes/acre produce deeply rich fruit with
firm structure and tannins.
Consistent with earlier notes, this exhibited a rich dark purple color, full bodied, and full smooth polished aromas and flavors of raspberries, blueberry, blueberries and smoked meat with notes of spice and floral elements with hints of oak with nicely integrated silky tannins on the lingering finish. However, the fruit was more subdued and a bit leaner than the full throttle profile of previous experience a few years ago.
This exhibited a rich dark purple color, full bodied, and full smooth polished aromas and flavors of raspberries, blueberry, blueberries and smoked meat with notes of spice and floral elements with hints of oak with nicely integrated silky tannins on the lingering finish.
It seems with this latest tasting of this label, the fruit seems more ripe or extracted so as to be a bit more raisiny with a subtle tone of graphite or a metallic note - perhaps or most likely attributable to aging at this stage of life - fifteen years of age.
RM 92 points.
http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2012/08/clarendon-hills-clarendon-piggott-range.html
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/10/cityscape-syrah-zin-bbq-ribs-wine.html
Marquis Phillips '9' McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004
From previous tastings of this release I wrote: "This is huge full bodied, deep dark inky color. Almost overpowering forward over ripe black berry, raisin, blue berry fruits, hints of caramel, vanilla, glycerin and cedar. Firm, full chewy unctuous tongue coating tannins that reveal more blueberry, vanilla, mocha on a long alcohol finish. Begs for bar-b-que or like food."
Similar to the 2004 Piggott Range Shiraz above, this too is starting to show its age and lose some of the vibrancy of its fruit. At fifteen years of age this is starting to show a bit of heat from the alcohol as this starts to wane and pass its prime drinking window.
RM 88 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=144787
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/05/marquis-philips-mclaren-vale-shiraz-2004.html
