Wine By Nine

Red Wine by d'Arenberg from McLaren Vale, Australia. One of this estate's flagship wines, the 2003 The Dead Arm Shiraz appears to be better than the 2002. A deeper, richer, fuller-bodied offering that spent time in equal parts French and American oak, it possesses an opaque purple color, great intensity, and a fabulously sweet nose of blackberries, cassis, asphalt, earth, and oak. Powerful, super-concentrated, and obviously fashioned from low yields and old vines, this is a classic McLaren Vale old vine Shiraz that should age nicely for 15+ years. - Wine Advocate

Red Wine by Clarendon Hills from McLaren Vale, Australia. A black, sexy beast, the 2004 Syrah Brookman (aged in 50% new French oak) offers up amazingly full-bodied, intense, blackberry fruit intermixed with notions of roasted coffee, flowers, and creme de cassis. Full-bodied, rich, beautifully textured, opulent, and long, it should drink well for 10-15 years. It appears to be slightly more forward than it was last year. -Wine Advocate

Red Wine by Clarendon Hills from McLaren Vale, Australia. Planted in the Onkaparinga Valley in the Clarendon Hills area, this wine is always very peppery and spicy with nuances of Leather and minerals. A most individual wine - always very deeply coloured and with abundant tannin. One of McLaren Vale's most astonishing Syrahs is Clarendon Hills' amazing 2004 Syrah Hickinbotham. Its inky/blue/purple hue is accompanied by aromas and flavors of creme de cassis, smoked meats, melted licorice, coffee beans, graphite, and bacon fat. Extremely full-bodied, powerful, and rich, with moderately high tannin, huge structure as well as massive concentration and intensity, but a sense of elegance, balance, and equilibrium, it should be cellared for 2-3 years, and drunk over the following two decades. -Wine Advocate

Red Wine by Mollydooker from McLaren Vale, Australia.

Red Wine by Brokenwood from McLaren Vale, Australia. Graveyard Shiraz has established itself as one of Australia's most sought-after red wines, displaying the best characteristics of super-premium Hunter Shiraz. Excellent color with youthful tints and quintessential Hunter Valley aromas: charry briarwood, clove and red cherry. Good weight to the palate, initially firm tannins but then red berry and spice flavors. Excellent structure that has earthy, briary, savory characters and grape/oak tannins. Developed characters should start to appear around the seven-year mark.

Red Wine by Clarendon Hills from McLaren Vale, Australia. The 2004 Liandra Syrah, highlights the quality of the fruit that is produced from 100 year old vines, planted on a soil of clay and sand. Inky, glass staining purple in color, this wine is polished and aristocratic. Expansive floral bouquet of boysenberry, candied plum and kirsch. A generous expression of bright dark berries, cinnamon, subtle bacon and eucalyptus, gliding into a long, open finish.

Red Wine by Clarendon Hills from McLaren Vale, Australia. The 2004 Moritz Syrah highlights the quality of the fruit that is produced from thirty-one year old vines, planted on a soil of ironstone. Dense dark purple in color the wine exhibits aromas of blueberry, black currants, cassis and game. On the palate, the wine is a mouthful of plums, blueberries, cured meat; finishing rich, silky and round. It comes across as a blend of Cornas and Hermitage. ...Gorgeous aromas of flowers, blueberries, cassis, and meat jump from the glass of this cuvee. With huge body and a rich, intense style, Bratasiuk claims it is his hypothetical blend of a Cornas and Hermitage, although it possesses more fruit than most of those wines. It should drink well for a minimum of 15 years. -Wine Advocate

Red Wine by Two Hands from McLaren Vale, Australia. Color: Dense, dark purple plum. Aroma: Gloriously generous fruit with subtle complimentary overtones of vanilla spice; enhancing, rather than dominating, the wonderful spicy plum fruit of this wine. Taste: Rich juicy fruit. Delicious and distinctive mocha, chocolate and sweet plum characters. Backed by a lush, plush mouthfeel laced with an underlying black pepper spice and a silky tight tannin structure.

Red Wine by d'Arenberg from McLaren Vale, Australia. Dead Arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus Eutypa Lata that randomly affects vineyards all over the world. Often vines affected are severely pruned or replanted. d'Arenberg believes that this is a natural part of vineyard life. One half, or arm of the vine slowly becomes reduced to dead wood. That side may be lifeless and brittle, but the grapes on the other side display amazing intensity. Vintage 2005 could be summarized as a vintage that ripened without interruptions. The resulting wines are tight with amazing red fruit fragrance and lovely acidity. Crops yields were above average although slightly under the 2004 vintage. Only the best barrels of Shiraz are selected to be bottled as The Dead Arm. The 2005 Dead Arm displays intense cedar, fig, blackberry, blueberry, and pepper aromas. Perfectly structured with a long and rich framework, it will yield this wine great aging power. After time in the bottle, the Dead Arm gains a biscuity, cinnamon, caramel and eucalyptus based bouquet on top of rich blackberry pie smells. Tobacco, mushroom, malt, spice and earth flavors play a complementary part on the long, fleshy finish.

Red Wine by Brokenwood from McLaren Vale, Australia. Grown in deep sand, this is an amazing vineyard in that it is only 9 years old, but planted with cuttings sourced from a very old local vineyard and own roots. A blend of American and French oak with a subtle balance of vanilla and spice, all up, 20 months in oak. Intense dorris plum and blackberry jube fruit dominate the nose. Classic McLaren Vale Christmas cake and brandy snap combine with licorice and subtle tannins to give a full flavored palate with length and persistence. Very distinctive and complex and more than qualifies for the Single Vineyard label. This Shiraz pairs very well with beef.

Red Wine by Kay Brothers from McLaren Vale, Australia. Colour: Deep cherry black. Bouquet: Sweet fruit perfume of black cherries, blackberries, white pepper and spices over subtle toasty oak. Palate: A rich, round, soft, voluptuous, fruit driven Shiraz with a hint of confectionery sweetness in the background. A very approachable full bodied combination of blueberries, plum, Ribena, mocha chocolate, spice box, vanilla and pepper fill the palate with pleasurable flavours and the balanced soft tannin finish has both length and persistence. Excellent cellaring potential. Vines: 100 year old One of Australia's most traditional winemakers, Colin Kay fashions old style, high quality, distinctive Australian reds. Tarry, chewy, and fleshy, the 2003 Shiraz Hillside has a bit more punch (15% alcohol) as well as a sappy character that is not present in the regular bottling. It is a broad, savory, expansively flavored, full-bodied Shiraz to enjoy over the next decade.

Red Wine by Samuel's Gorge from McLaren Vale, Australia. This wine has deep mulberry and ink well tones on the nose. It has plum and baked quince on the palate. The palate finishes with texture and vibrancy. A wine with texture and spice, deep full fruit tones with trademark savory tones particular to Samuel's Gorge. Excellent aging potential, 10+ years. Samuel's Gorge in McLaren Vale south of Adelaide in South Australia is owned by former Tatachilla winemaker Justin McNamee. The boutique winery is located on Seaview Ridge, where he raises grapes for his 100% Tempranillo. Grapes for the Samuel's Gorge Grenache come from low-yielding 100-year-old bush vines that grow in white sands at Blewitt Springs. He also makes an old-vine Shiraz.