The wine opens with huge jammy dark elderberry and black pepper. It has earth and brambles, giving it underlying depth and keeping it from qualifying as a “fruit bomb,” but just barely. Licorice is more pronounced on the palate than the nose. A bit of dried orange peel appears on the mid-palate. The finish is mid-length and trends away from the fruit and toward black pepper and orange peel. This is an odd wine, one that will appeal to those favoring the bigger, riper, fruitier trend of “modern” wines, but turning off aficianados of the more balanced traditional approach. That might explain why other commercial reviews have ranged from 86 to 91.
WHO Yangarra Estate
WHAT Grenache, Old Vine
WHERE Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
WHEN 2005
HOW MUCH $25.98
