Ranked #2 of 25 1996 Shiraz from Pyrenees
96/100
5 Stars
Huon Hooke
Medium to deep red, some brick-red tinges. Cool-year spices and mellow, meaty, charcuterie complexities, lovely aged nose. Very elegant, refined palate with delicious array of flavours, red fruits and slightly spiced, fine and taut, linear and tangy, good acidity and tension. Beautiful wine and very youthful with many years ahead.
Tasted: 13/09/2011
Drink: 2011 to 2028
87 Points Robert Parker
This wine was wrapped tight, making evaluation very difficult. It both revealed saturated colors, good purity, surprisingly high acidity, and considerable tannin. I don't see it developing into a hedonistic example of Australian wine. In contrast, it is a structure-dominated, backward, restrained, and intellectually oriented wine. Will this wine open and provide the richness of fruit it suggests it possesses? Only time will tell, but it is unquestionably well-made, and its varietal characteristics are presented accurately. However, this wine is frightfully backward and unevolved.
Source: Robert Parker (Robert Parker Wine Advocate) by Robert M. Parker, Jr. October, 1998
86 Points James Halliday
Medium red-purple; the bouquet is clean, with cherry/berry fruit of medium to full intensity, although not especially complex. On the palate powerful cherry, berry and mint fruit flavours are followed by tannins which build on the mid- to back palate. Subtle oak throughout. Drink to 2006.
Source: James Halliday. January, 1998
This wine was wrapped tight, making evaluation very difficult. It both revealed saturated colors, good purity, surprisingly high acidity, and considerable tannin. I don't see it developing into a hedonistic example of Australian wine. In contrast, it is a structure-dominated, backward, restrained, and intellectually oriented wine. Will this wine open and provide the richness of fruit it suggests it possesses? Only time will tell, but it is unquestionably well-made, and its varietal characteristics are presented accurately. However, this wine is frightfully backward and unevolved.Source: Robert Parker (Wine Advocate) October, 1998 by Robert Parker