Last week I went through some barrel, tank and bottle samples at two Hunter Valley wineries and thought I would throw up some of my impressions (so to speak) on the two most important varietals - Shiraz and Semillon from the 2005 vintage. I will post more detailed impressions later. This is an overview.

Shiraz - The wines have finished malolactic and I can tell you “I’m excited”. There is excellent fruit purity here and good ripe tannin in a medium bodied classic Hunter style. Alcohols generally around the mid 13 percent mark. Quite different to the gutsy tannic 2003 vintage and equally good. Samples tasted from over 5 vineyards.

Semillon - Strange wines. Very fragrant with intense fruit salad aromas. Acids tending to be softer and the wines fuller bodied on the palate than usual. Certainly quite approachable at a young age. Will they age? I am sure the best will but really it is anyones guess. I like them a lot.

2004 Vintage seems solid but not great for Shiraz. Tannins seem a bit raw. The Semillon is classic. Very lean long term wines for cellaring. They should be great wines down the track.

My tip top top tips are to load up on 2003 shiraz and save some money for the 2005. Put some 2004 Semillon in the cellar and drink the 2005 up to medium term.


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