2005 Mungo Park Shiraz

Dark purple. Seductively perfumed, room-filling bouquet of blackberry, blueberry, spicecake and minerals. Deep and sweet but improbably vibrant, boasting powerful cherry and cassis flavors along with Asian spices and a suave vanilla quality. Admirably restrained on the finish, which features silky tannins and outstanding persistence. The balance of this syrah is extremely impressive.

Opaque purple. Explosive, utterly captivating bouquet of creme de cassis, blackberry jam, kirsch, graphite and iron. Powerful, dense dark fruit flavors are given energy by bright acids, making this huge, densely flavored wine almost seem graceful. The berry flavors build and expand through the finish, picking up suave, sweetening notes of vanilla and cinnamon. This is looking as good as the 2004 Exile today. From 80-year-old vines.

The 2005 Mungo Park Shiraz was sourced from a vineyard with low yields of 1.5 tons per acre. The wine was aged in 100% new French oak and bottled unfiltered. It reveals fragrant aromas of toasty oak, smoke, tar, black olives, and blueberry compote. Ripe and intensely flavored upon entry, it exhibits an elegant personality with outstanding depth, concentration, and a long, pure finish. Oct 2007, www.robertparker.com