Reported by Mike Cowen

Twelve red wines, all Shiraz, all Aussie, average price $88 per bottle: I thought I had died and gone to heaven!! Unfortunately, this was one of those Guild events where if you hesitated in registering as soon as the newsletter came out, you ended up disappointed as there was a massive waiting list.

Despite a tasting where all the wines were (for the most part) of one varietal from the same country, there was plenty to discuss from wine to wine and flight to flight. Flight one saw the best value of the evening—the $20 Kilikanoon Killerman’s Run, which at less than half the cost of the next cheapest wine in the tasting, represented superb value, showing lots of plum and dark chocolate. The assembled tasters gave the nod to the Charles Cimicky Reserve Shiraz as the best wine of the flight, with massive fruit, coffee, tar and a generously long finish.

Hands down, the best wine in the second flight was the Katnook Estate Prodigy Shiraz. Smooth as silk, with hints of menthol and excellent balance, it stood head and shoulders above the crowd. The last flight saw the tasters divided as to which wine was rated number one. A majority gave the nod to another Kilikanoon product, this time the R Reserve Shiraz. Seductive, with smooth vanilla, blackberry, and chocolate notes and exceptional integration, the finish seemed to go on forever. However, those of us who enjoy less wow and more finesse, structure, and complexity, were overwhelmed by the 2001 Penfold’s Grange. Usually considered as Australia’s only “First Growth”, it showed almost perfect balance amongst tannin, fruit and acid. Each sip revealed new nuances of flavour and complexity. You can always debate whether any wine can be worth $300 per bottle, but I am glad we had a chance to form our own opinions.

A special thanks to Robert White for patiently collecting these wines bottle by bottle from the Classics Catalogue over the past year or so. Robert is already gearing up for another big Aussie red event next year, with a completely different set of wines. If you like Australian reds and want a chance to taste wines that most us can seldom afford, don’t pass this one by.

The wines

Flight 1
Henschke Johann's Garden Grenache/Mouvedre/Shiraz, 2003 (RP-90)*, $49, 946061
Kilikanoon Killerman's Run, 2005 (RP-92), $20, 925453
Rolf Binder Heysen Shiraz, 2004 (RP-93), $49, 27300
Charles Cimicky Reserve Shiraz, 2004 (RP-93-95), $46, 685594

Flight 2
Domaine Terlato & Chapoutier Lieu Dit Malakoff Shiraz, 2004 (WS-92), $48, 19513
Richard Hamilton Centurion 110 Year Old Vine Shiraz, 2002 (RP-93), $45, 729020
Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz, 2001 (WS-94), $87, 700310
Katnook Estate Prodigy Shiraz 2002 (AG-95), $69, 742395

Flight 3
Torbreck, The Factor, 2003 (RP-96), $135, 20347
Kilikanoon R Reserve Shiraz, 2003 (RP-96-98), $95, 6015
Penfolds Grange, 2001 (RP-98+), $300, 336388
RWT Shiraz Penfolds, 2003 (RP-96), $119, 564278

RP: Robert Parker
WS: Wine Spectator
AG: Anthony Gismondi