Red Nectar Wines Shiraz 2002 (review)

91 points

From Stonewell, Barossa Valley, South Australia.

Super saturated wine. Inky colour. Aromas of densely packed fruit and well handled American oak. A very concentrated wine that carries its 14.5% alcohol effortlessly. Silky, rather than soft, with some milky American oak flavours. There are hints of the chocolate milkshake style Barossa shiraz but the structure and level of concentration are different. This is a new wave Barossa shiraz, finer, more concentrated (see earlier post on styles of Barossa shiraz).

My only criticism is that the wine is somewhat closed at present. It's approachable but flavours are so close knit. Also there is a touch of burntness - personal preference if you think this is good feature or not. I didn't I'd prefer some more savoury rather than burnt notes. I'd prefer some French oak. In future vintages it would be nice to see more focus on complexity rather than just balance and concentration.

Only 33 cases of this wine were made ! Which makes this review rather academic. But presumably production is increasing. This bottle was given to me by a friend, who is sister of the owner/vigneron. But that doesn't mean I'm biased. I've given it lower points than Robert Parker did. And a tad lower than for Winter Creek - perhaps unreasonably, but because this wine is more closed at present.