2004 The Struie

Saturated ruby-red. Deep, powerful and exotic on the nose, with explosive aromas of raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, rose pastille, baking spices and cracked pepper. Lush and velvety, the red and dark berry flavors showing excellent depth and beguiling sweetness, but not at the expense of clarity. As delicious as this is right now, a few years of patience should bring even more complexity.

The 2004 The Struie is 100% Shiraz from 40-60-year old and 120-year old vineyards. Half of the fruit is from the Eden Valley and half from the Barossa, and the wine spends 18 months in French oak (20% new). An exotic bouquet of blackberries and other sweet fruits is followed by a full-bodied, powerful, rich red with great purity as well as focus, a laser-like precision, huge intensity, and a blockbuster finish that lasts nearly a minute. It will be even better with 2-3 more years of bottle age, and should last for two decades. Oct 2006, www.robertparker.com