Longwood Reserve Shiraz 2005

Longwood Reserve Shiraz 2005 92 pts Robert Parker, Jr.'s The Wine Advocate #173 - Shiraz has a solid structure, superb balance, and a long, pure finish.

Tasting Notes

Vintage for the 05 Reserve consisted of 6 Hogsheads. Half the fruit coming from sandy loam over ironstone, the other from ancient river shale over dark clay.The colour is deep purple/magenta. The nose is rich with ripe plum and dark berry with hints of char.Flavour is conveyed seamlessly from front to back across the palate. The wine is dense without being jammy. Tannins are fine, long and dusty.The wine will benefit from decanting 1-2 hours and should age well to 10 years +.

Food Accompaniments

Venison, Beef,

Awards, Reviews and other Notes

92 pts Robert Parker, Jr.'s The Wine Advocate #173
The 2005 Shiraz Reserve raises the bar. It was aged for 18 months in 50% new American oak and 50% used French oak. Purple/magenta in color, it presents an aromatic array of pain grillé, scorched earth, plum, game, and blueberry. Layered and sweet, this full-bodied Shiraz has a solid structure, superb balance, and a long, pure finish. Give it 4-6 years to blossom and drink it through 2024.

91 pts Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar 2007
Inky ruby. Explosively perfumed nose displays exotic red and dark berry liqueur, Indian spices, cigar box and licorice. The juicy raspberry and cassis flavors are firmed by supple tannins and expand nicely through the finish. Impressively precise for a wine with such punch, finishing with outstanding persistence and a candied licorice quality.

91 pts Wine Enthusiast 2008
This is a full-bodied, firmly structured Shiraz with plummy, intense aromas tinged with licorice and framboise.  Bits of chocolate, mint and spice accent the plum and raspberry flavors, and the wine finishes crisp, dry and deeply textured.  It should drink well from now through 2015.

Winemaker Notes

Practices: Vines are 8 and 10 years old. Single trellis. Crops average around 2 tonne to the acre. Minimal water is used on both vineyards. All wines are fermented in 1 & 2 tonne open vats, hand plunged 3 times a day and basket pressed. Wine is pressed directly to oak and racked 3 times prior to bottling.

Chemical Analysis

Price

SKU

Varietal

Alcohol %: 14.8%
Total Acid: 6.9
Free/Total Sulfur: 26F 74T
pH: 3.44
Residual Sugar: 1.6 g/l

$21.99

6968

Shiraz