Deeply fragrant with blueberry and dark plums, violets, crushed white pepper and pencil shavings. Palate still rather closed and with tight tannins, but still showing enough fruit for enjoyment now (a long decant coaxes a bit more out of it). A well structured tannin backbone will ensure this wine lives long and develops further as the those phenolic walls come down.
Rate: 94+pts
Drink: 2009-2014+
Price: $25
Sweet dark and red berry fruits, some smoky light cinnamon and pepper and creamy vanilla oak.
A fair bit of saltiness and minerality coming through on opening but evens out with more time in the decanter. The wine finishes with a whiff of sweet spice and well placed, medium bodied tannins. Drinking well now with potential for the next few years.
Rate: 92pts
Price: $20
Drink: 2007-2012
Deep purple/black colour with blackberries, plums, cedar, menthol and French oak. Spicy and quite tannic, but after a long decant some smooth, creamy textures came through before finishing quite pointy/spicy. A decent wine, slightly rough around the edges and would go down better with a big steak.
Rate: 89pts
Price: $20
Drink: 2007-2012
Ruby cherry and plums bursting out of the glass with some meaty characters to follow. Lots of young acid and tannins on the palate holding back the fruit a bit at this point but it should flesh out with a time and turn into a great drop.
Rate: 91pts
Price: $25
Drink: 2009-2014+
Squashed black cherries, plum, pepper spice and light apricot syrup. Very lifted and floral nose, but the palate delivers a good deal of luscious fruit. Medium bodied with well placed tannins, probably at its best in 12 months (but drinking great now).
Rate: 92pts
Price: $18
Drink: 2007-2010+
| 2005 Glaetzer Amon-Ra Shiraz A deep black liqueur layered with dark berries, smoke, tar, anise oil, ground coffee, cedar spice and leather. Brooding, powerful, sumptuous and armed with tannins that carry the finish with great length. Excellent now or in the next 15 years. Rate: 97pts Price: $90 Drink: 2007-2022+ 2006 Glaetzer Amon-Ra Shiraz A closed nose, not giving away much at all! Deep and dark ruby and black fruits, floral notes, white pepper and spice. Tannins big yet unobtrusive – but the best is yet to come undone. There is a spine of finesse about this wine, quite a different beast to the 2005 yet still in the same fashion. Will score higher in the future. Rate: 93+pts Drink: 2010-2025+ Price: $90 And the winner is.... 2005. Could be the extra year of bottle age just letting the wine give away a little bit more, but still in my view the 2006 is one to be drunk as an older wine whereas the 2005 is relatively accessible now. As an overall view of the Glaetzer wines, I think the 2006 Anaperrena and the 05 Amon-Ra are neck to neck. They're different wines but of equal calibre. I tasted the 2005 Godolphin aswell last week (didn't make notes) and it's an excellent wine but just a notch below the 05 Amon and 06 Ana for me. Would love to revisit these in 5 years.. | |
A big nose, blackberry and dark plum fruits, aniseed, smoke and clove spice.
Equally huge on the palate with deep brooding dark berry fruits, liquorice, tar, espresso and it finishes with an array of exotic lingering spices and finely grained tannins. The palate is dominated by French oak but there is some creamy vanillins coming through as well. Luscious and mouthfilling, excellent fruit concentration without heading into jammy territory, and with magnificent length. The wine can be drunk now with much pleasure, but in my opinion will really start singing with about 24 more months of bottle age and then for ten years from thereafter.
Rate: 97pts
Alc: 14.5%
Price: $50
Drink: 2009-2019
60%
Rate: 91pts
Price: $20
Drink: 2007-2010
Sweet and luscious red cherry and plum fruits, apricot jam, spice and red licquorice. This wine is dangerously easy to drink! Soft tannins and acid but all harmoniously balanced. I like it.
Rate: 90pts
Price: $15
Drink: 2007-2009
50%
Rate: 88pts
Price: $17
Drink: 2007-2009
Deep plum and blackberries, dark chocolate, red earth, dusty pepper and cinnamon and seasoned French oak. A full bodied, very Barossan
Rate: 93pts
Price: $40
Drink: 2007-2012
Blackberries, blackcurrants, plums and berry liqueur, dark creamy chocolate, musk, sweet clove, ground coffee, aniseed, vanillin essence and some new wet leather. Fragrant, complex, awesomely concentrated and layered with fine seamless tannins. All components in perfect balance and with an incredible and persistent finish. This is truly a magnificent wine.
Rate: 97+pts
Price: $100+
Drink: 2007-2017
A vintage cellars exclusive wine. Big dark plum and boysenberry fruit, licquorice strap and dusty coal, cedar and strong vanilla. A strong core of extact and tannins and lots of tart acid on the palate. The malbec makes its present known and all the better for it. Should start to drink well in about two years and continue on for at least another five.
Rate: 92pts
Price: $15
Drink: 2009-2015
Blackcherries, plum, spicy aniseed and some light nutmeg and pepper spice. Medium to full bodied with small but firm tannins and a little dash of tart acidity. Though drinking now, I think it needs another year or a slightly long decant.
*Note: I enjoyed this wine more after being opened and left in the fridge for 3 days.
Rate: 88pts
Price: $20
Drink: 2007-2010
Big black plums, blackberries, dark chocolate, coarse cinnamon and vanilla essence crystals.
The palate is dark and is brooding with heaps of blackberry liqueur and other dark fruits, much of which is still locked beneath the wines' young tannic sheath. Chunky chocolate, spicy cloves and a good dollop of mocha/vanilla cream smeared on top aswell. Big tannins, this one will last at least 7-10 years and won’t be showing what its made of until at least 2009-2010. Big, dark, Barossa style.
Rate: 93pts
Price:$25
Drink: 2009-2018+
I will post brief notes on what I thought of them and won’t give ratings. Having said that they would probably average just under 90 points.. with a drinking window of about now to 2010.
2004 Grant Burge 150th Anniversary
Plenty of plum and berry fruits, light coffee and a touch of cinnamon. Lighter than I expected for an 04 Barossa
2004 Grant Burge 150th Anniversary
A slightly deeper profile than the straight
2004 Grant Burge 150th Anniversary GSM
Lighter bodied than others within the range, but probably the most balanced. Lots of cherries and plum fruit, medium savoury tannins and a touch of spice. Better than a lot of “blockbuster” Barossa GSM styles that I’ve had.
Overall they are all sound wines. The
Plums, black cherries and spicy, cedary oak. Quite spicy and savoury on the palate but with plenty of plum and dark berry fruits to complement. Fresh acidity and some taut, grippy tannins to finish. A little raw at the moment, should be interesting to see re-visit in a years time.
Rate: 89pts
Price: $15
Alcohol: 14.5%
Drink: 2008-2011
A spicy nose, plummy fruit, blackberries, white pepper and dried herbs. Quite a sour palate upon opening with young plums up front and a eucalypt finish. With more time it showed more blackberry and liquorice with a slight green pepper finish.
Showing quite good length of finish for a wine in this price bracket, but a bit raw at the moment and needs another year or two in the bottle.
Rate: 88pts
Price: $14
Alcohol: 14.5%
Drink: 2008-2012
A very fragrant wine – exuding blackberries, smoke, fresh tobacco and some subdued mint. On the palate it is big, dark and brooding, loaded with blackberry liqueur, black olives, cedar wood and spice. Full bodied, multi layered and with a firm backbone of tannin – this wine will go the distance.
Rate: 95pts
Price: $70
Alcohol: 14.5%
Drink: 2010-2017
2004
Ripe dark red plums, black cherry and tomato characters. Quite a fragrant and intense nose showing some nice white pepper character typical of cool climate
Tight on the palate, with balanced fruit and savoury elements and finishes with finely grained tannins and fresh acidity. Elegant and restrained and a fine example of MR
Rate: 94pts
Price: $30
Alcohol: 14.5%
Drink: 2007-2012
2004 Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon
An excellent varietal. This is cabernet and nothing else. Cassis, capsicum, cedar, tobacco – its all there. Medium to full bodied with firm tannins, it finishes with good length and a fair grip. Quite a bit of greenish elements within the wine at the moment but still pleasant, and should develop well. However it must be said that this wine needs a long decant to be enjoyed now.
Rate: 91pts
Price: $35
Alcohol: 14.5%
Drink: 2009-2014
Dark fruits, plum, aniseed and cracked black pepper. Medium to full bodied, showed some bitterness upon opening which phased out after more time in the glass. Quite an elegant wine with a spicy finish and medium to firm tannins.
Rate: 93pts
Price: $40 (Restaurant)
Alcohol: 14%
Drink: 2008-2014
Deep blackberry fruit, tobacco, olive and finishes with a some slightly bitter chocolate and touch of mint. A good full bodied cabernet, with medium tannins and good length.
Rate: 91pts
Price: $30
Alcohol: 14.5%
Drink: 2008-2011+
A huge wine, loaded with black and blueberry fruit, thick black liquorice, cloves, five star anise and finely crushed peppercorns. Full bodied, muscular, promising complexity and with a lingering finish full of long spicy tannins and solid American oak. One for the cellar!
Plenty of rich, sweet berries on the palate and just a touch of jam. Cloves, aniseed and vanillin essence are also welcome partners in the mix. Pretty full bodied and with lots of savoury and spice nuances running through it like most good Margaret River shiraz.
A classic Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot and malbec (So actually it is a quintet). Quite a spicy nose, and there is unmistakably cabernet presence – cassis, blackcurrants, mint and a bit of dark chocolate. On the palate similar with bold black fruits, sweet plums, chocolate and finishing on a rather cedary note.
