Lower Hunter Valley, NSW 13.5% Screwcap RRP $40- Tasted 28/8/09
“While it lasted the morning long,
Came the feeling of something wrong,
As you knew that it would before long,
A grave expectation,
So the hackles did raise some,
O it never stays under even on
A dog’s day.
You start looking for targets for your arrows,
A bloody sheath for your eager blade,
Dark clouds for the sun to shroud
On this dog’s day”- Glen Richards, Augie March
Sometimes I attach a song lyric to a TN because I feel it somehow “matches” the wine, other times because I feel it matches the mood I was in when I drank the wine. Today I’m using one that captures the mood I’m in this morning. The weekend was very pleasing. Late yesterday afternoon and last night was not. You can get a hangover that has nothing to do with alcohol. I suspect it can effect how you write a wine up. But I am only 4-5 years into exploring wine. Maybe I’m talking nonsense? Anything’s possible in my books.
This is, in some ways, a baby Graveyard Shiraz. The fruit comes from younger vines planted in the Graveyard vineyard during the 1990s and some declassified stuff that may have been meant for the Flagship wine. The baby vines gear is matured for 14 months in American Oak barriques (a shock to me, I wouldn’t have guessed American oak). The older Graveyard fruit makes it bit more difficult to judge, as it is matured in a mix of 80% French and 20% American. Anyway, I don’t think this wine is really about oak. I think it is more an expression of the Hunter and an example of balance and poise.
It is a lovely rich, dense purple colour, but with interesting clarity too. The nose is of blackberries, red fruits, earth, horse saddle leather, spice, violets and plums. Very expressive really.
In the mouth we have a velvet chocolate texture that feels lovely. It is only medium bodied, opening with light footed black, blue and red fruits which give way to spice and raspberries, all the time gathering an increasingly complex and pleasant earthiness. I got a suggestion of star anise, but no liquorice. It’s plush & lithe at the same time. The red fruits come to the fore as the wine opens up. The acidity is keeping everything on its toes without becoming juicy and the tannins are raspy and fine. The balance of everything is hard to fault. Its intensity almost surprising given its weight, and the finish maintains that intensity for a long time. You can dwell on this wine in many ways. This was one.
Winery website- http://www.brokenwood.com.au/