2006 Shirvington Shiraz

Type- Red
Producer- Shirvington
Variety- Shiraz
Country- Australia
Region- South Australia
SubRegion- Fleurieu
Appellation- McLaren Vale



The color is maroon, bright and clear. This wine hits your nose with a wall of smells. It starts with sweet butter slathered on roasted nuts, sitting on a plate next to a vase full of day-old magnolias. That is followed by a complex melange of red fruit, cherries and strawberries, and black fruit, blueberries and mulberries. Mouth feel is very full and thick. The palate has the same sweet buttered roasted nuts, almost praline-sweet. That is followed by big jammy fruit, hearty jam with big chunks of strawberries, black cherries, and a few blueberries. Maple syrup and vanilla flow on the mid-palate. The finish is very sweet and very long.

Night Two

Again, the nose starts with buttery praline, the cherries and blueberries. The palate has the same pralines, loads of big black and red fruit, and browned butter to finish. The overall sense, and mouth feel, is smooth butter. The finish is not as long as Night One, but still fairly long.

This is a great big buttery powerful wine. It is not a fruit-bomb, as the fruits are not overly jammy and sweet, and the butter-nut praline offers another level of flavors other than just jars of jelly. It is big enough, though, that it cold easily overpower most food, so choose carefully when looking for a good match.