The review for the 2005 Tally elicited a couple of reader complaints - specifically that the inclusion of lyrics from “The Banana Boat Song” stuck in their heads and caused them to absent mindedly sing-a-long for a couple of days. Sorry. Right, now I tasted this alongside the 2005 John Riddoch and 2004 Brands Laira “The Patron” and it was clear from the first sniff and slurp of “The Tally” that this was a youthful, dense and forbidding wine, so the cork went straight back in and the wine was left until the next day. A reverse application of the “Method Audouze” if you like.

A huge wine flooded with Cassis, blackberry and raspberry fruit, a liberal application of complex oak offering toast, cedar, spice, nougat and play-doh with additional characters of black liquorice, mint and a few violets just poking their heads above the surface. It’s full bodied with enormous extract and flavour, dense and brooding with a big spread of chalky tannin and extreme length of flavour. A powerhouse that needs at least a decade of cellaring.

Other vintages : 2005

Rated : 95 Points
Tasted : Jul08
Alcohol : 15%
Closure : Cork
Drink : 2018 - 2030