Barossa Shiraz

This wine was actually selected for me by my wife. As a rule she refuses to buy wine for me; stating that she doesn't know anything about and she will probably buy the 'wrong' bottle. Well, as a surprise (and it certainly was) she came home from a quick shop at Waitrose the other day with a bottle of Barossa Shiraz. This wine is actually made by St Hallett (in partnership with Waitrose). On all accounts, my wife did a good job choosing this wine (I think the fact that it was on offer at the time helped!)

St Hallett (Waitrose) Barossa Shiraz, Shiraz, 2008 Reserve, Australia.

This is a typical Aussie Shiraz - Big, mouth filling, peppery fruit. The nose has dark berry fruit. full of blackcurrant, plum and dark cherries. After a bit of air it releases some softer red fruit overlaid with hints of violet. The palate imitates the palate beautifully; the dark fruits carries over as does the violet. This is lovely perfumed wine with a good length and finish. The wine is well balanced and while there are some obvious tannins in this wine (as you would expect with an Aussie Shiraz) they are not too grippy. This is a nice wine and would be great with a BBQ (like the one we are having on Sunday - shame i didn't keep it until the weekend!). 4/5 (14.5% abv) Waitrose.