2004 Hickinbotham Syrah

Inky purple. Expansive bouquet of dark fruit liqueur, with potent spicecake and coffee accents. A major mouthful, the spicy dark berry flavors threatening to blow your head off, with deeper tar and espresso tones adding a sensation of depth. Firm tannins help to maintain focus, but this is a serious, scorched-earth wine, with the concentration and sheer flavor intensity to obliterate almost any dish that I can think of.

One of McLaren Vale’s most astonishing Syrahs is Clarendon Hills’ amazing 2004 Syrah Hickinbotham. Its inky/blue/purple hue is accompanied by aromas and flavors of creme de cassis, smoked meats, melted licorice, coffee beans, graphite, and bacon fat. Extremely full-bodied, powerful, and rich, with moderately high tannin, huge structure as well as massive concentration and intensity, but a sense of elegance, balance, and equilibrium, it should be cellared for 2-3 years, and drunk over the following two decades. Oct 2006, www.robertparker.com