QOTD: I’d love to see you try Georgian wines, in particular, the Mukuzani Dry Red (WL #:7238). At $8, it would be cool to see how it shows. I’ve been interested in trying Georgian wines to expand my palate, but they aren’t the easiest to find.

I thought the Journal or other publication recently came out and stated that Shiraz did not come from Iran and that it was a myth.

Let me know if you want me to forward the article to you.

Claudio
Chicago, IL

http://www.jacobscreek.com/apps/uploadedFiles/VideoTasting/14//Reserve_Shiraz_56k.mov

Total number of awards: 126

2003 Shiraz
Wine Spectator – Sips and Tips – 21 June 2006
91

Thick, with a layer of black pepper over a mouth filling gob of black cherry and liquorice that cries out for grilled red meat. Drinkable now, better with some age. Best from 2008 through 2013. 61,000 cases imported. From Australia.
Wine Spectator’s editors have selected this wine as the best buy of the week

2003 Shiraz
Wine Spectator – Aug.31, 2006
Great Value 91

Full of cherry and licorice notes that will tame grilled meat. Its combination of quality, price and availability gain it a Smart buy. Thick, with a layer of black pepper over a mouth filling gob of black cherry and licorice that cries out for grilled meat. Drinkable now, better with some age. Best from 2008 through 2013.

2003 Shiraz
WINESTATE September/October 2006
3.5 stars

Charred, smoky bacon nose and a big, oaky palate with some attractive varietal fruit underneath and drying tannins on the finish. $15.99

2002 Shiraz
More International Success for Jacob’s Creek
Gold

Jacob’s Creek wines have won major awards in two international wines shows.

The shows were the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and the Pacific Rim International Wine Show in the US. Results for both shows have been announced this week.

The Belgium competition, which is recognised by the European Union, was judged for the 12th time in Ostend between March 31 and April 2.

Jacob’s Creek 1997 Centenary Hill Shiraz was awarded a Great Gold medal, which under the rules of the competition means it scored equal or greater than 96 points from judges. It was the only Australian wine to achieve such recognition.

As one of the largest and most respected wine competitions in western USA, the Pacific Rim International Wine Competition receives entries from around the world.

The Pacific Rim International Wine Competition has grown from about 100 entries in 1985 to more than 2200 entries in 2005 and 2006 will mark 21 years of the competition.

Pacific Rim Competition – USA

2002 Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz – Gold (Best in Class)
2003 Jacob’s Creek Shiraz – Gold
1997 Jacob’s Creek Centenary Hill Shiraz – Gold
2004 Jacob’s Creek Shiraz Rosé – Gold

Chief Winemaker for Jacob’s Creek, Philip Laffer, said the international wins were testament to the philosophy of the brand, which is to improve quality with every vintage.

Jacob’s Creek wines have won more than 2,250 national and international wine show medals and trophies.

2002 Shiraz
Wine Spectator – July 2005
89

Lovely, focused blueberry and vanilla flavours sing the main melody. Framework is supple and velvety, letting the flavours persist on the well-formed, graceful finish. Drink now through 2012.

2002 Shiraz
Winestate – July/August 2005
4½ stars

A bright and vibrant wine with a nose that is big and lifted with lovely aromas of blackcurrants. Palate exhibits blackcurrant flavours with nice tarry/licorice complexity. Palate is soft, sweet and rich. $15.99

2002 Shiraz
Editorial in July/August 2005 Winestate Magazine
Peter Simic – Editor/Publisher

Shiraz is the flagship of the Australian wine industry and each year we delight in putting together the biggest tasting of Shiraz wines anywhere in the world. It shows the extraordinary reach of the varietal, which has travelled from the Rhone Valley in France to be adopted and made the signature wine of Australia. In this country it has achieved great heights, both as a dependable quaffer at lower price points and at the premium end, where its power continues to amaze.
While I don’t normally draw attention to an individual wine, I have to give an honourable mention to the Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz 2002, which can be found in the marketplace for around the $15 mark. This is the yardstick that other makers need to meet. Even if it were twice the price, this is what we are looking for! An extraordinary wine that over delivers.

2002 Shiraz
Wine and Spirits – October 2005
86

Round and supple, this show relatively moderate ripeness, which means black fig and green peppercorn flavours that keep it fresh. A good, firm red for anything off the grill.

2002 Shiraz
Wine Spectator – October 2005
89

Focused blueberry and vanilla flavours sing the main melody. Framework is supple as the flavours persist on the graceful finish.

2002 Shiraz
Wine Spectator Dec.31, 2005 – Jan.15, 2006
89

Smart Buys – RED

2002 Shiraz
Wine Spectator – Dec.31 – Jan.15 2006
89

Smart Buys

US$13

2002 Shiraz
Wine Spectator (H. Steiman)
89

“Lovely, focused blueberry & vanilla flavors sing the main melody. Framework is supple & velvety, letting the flavors persist on the well-formed, graceful finish. Drink now through 2012.”

2002 Shiraz
Wine & Spirits (J. Greene)
86

“…A good, firm red for anything off the grill.”

2001 Shiraz
Golf Asia

A full bodied wine style, showing concentrated spicy plum and dark chocolate fruits, it is finely balanced with supportive cedar and vanillin oak flavours. Fruit and oak tannins are further harmonised to provide a velvety soft and persistent tannin finish, a typical feature of the Jacob’s Creek red wine

2001 Shiraz
Winestate Annual 2005
$10-$15

A rich, dense wine – all spices and Christmas cake. Nose has charry oak over sweet fruit. Powerful tannic palate, lots of plums and some residual sugar sweetness. Long, lingering and complex.

2000 Shiraz
Winestate, July/Aug 2002
4 Stars

Bold chary oaky nose, nice plum and blueberries underneath. Generous and firm palate has balance and persistence.

2000 Shiraz
OUT OF THE RACK

Reserve range offers outstanding value
There are now three ranges of the Jacob’s Creek wines: the “core range”, which includes the two wines reviewed here, plus a number of other varietal wines, the Reserve range at this sort of price point and the Limited Reserve range which are in the $40-$60 price point.

It is the Reserve wines, including the shiraz and the cabernet sauvignon, which I also believe represent outstanding value. They are the sort of wines you’d serve to your prospective father-in-law when you were asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage. He needs, after all, to know she is going to marry a man of good taste (or the other way around).

The wine has considerable richness of fruit, a full crimson colour in the glass, lots of pepper on the nose and nice harmony of fruit, tannins, alcohol (13 per cent) and subtle oak influence. In all, a very well put together wine at a reasonable price.

Orlando Jacob’s Creek 2000 Reserve Shiraz $14

2000 Shiraz
Wine Spectator – July 2005

“Moderate”
Jacob’s Creek 2000 Reserve Shiraz
South Eastern Australia

Medium-plus tannins and acidity with raspberry, blackberry, vanilla, mint,
and black pepper; medium finish Venison. Smart Buy. Serve now, but will
hold for some time.

1999 Shiraz
Wine Enthusiast, September 2002

87 Jacob’s Creek 1999 Reserve Shiraz (South Australia) $18 Combines effusively rich, blueberry liqueur aromas with vanilla, yet still comes across as a little tight, with the promise of better things to come. That’s confirmed by the layers of ripe chewy tannins on the finish. Goes down easy now; should be better in a couple of years.

1999 Shiraz
Divine, May/July 2002

Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz 1999 $15
The Jacob’s Creek Reserve range, and particularly the Shiraz, have received many accolades since they were first released last year, and with very good reason. I’m sure smaller winemakers must look enviously at the ability of big companies such as Orlando Wyndham to source grapes from far and wide and come up with a wine many would be proud to sell for nearly double the price.
I tried this on a very cool day – we’ve had lots in Melbourne this past summer – as it is real winter wine: ripe plum and raspberries supported by subtle smoky, vanilin oak flavours of great length and persistence that are as comforting as tucking into a bowl of hearty soup by an open fire. But given its restorative and invigorating qualities, I’d recommend grabbing a bottle whatever the weather.

1999 Shiraz
Uncorked, May 2002
5 Stars

Extraordinary value!
It has fruitcake, gamy, smoky, toasty aromas and a soft, easy drinking palate with generous savoury flavours. The intensity and palate length are remarkable in a wine of its price.
Food: Meatballs in tomato sauce.
Ageing: Drink now and for five or six years.

1999 Shiraz
Sun Herald Sunday Life

This slightly up-market version of Orlando’s international bestseller is a great bargain in anybody’s language. With a core of liqueurish, blackberry-like shriraz fruit, and touches of sweet spice and coconutty oak, it’s a mouth-filling drink.

1999 Shiraz
Halliday’s Top 100, Winepros website
89

Good colour and a bouquet flooded with ripe, dark plum and prune leads logically into a palate with luscious ripe fruit offset by appropriately persistent tannins and subtle oak.

1999 Shiraz
Jeremy Oliver’s On Wine Report Update, October 2001 Vol 4 Issue 9

Those who like modern shiraz will find excellent value for money in this fullish, generous sort of a red, whose ripe raspberry, plum and blackcurrant fruit is well matched with sweet vanilla and toasty oak. It’s not overblown, does have a good length of bright, ripe flavour and does finish with well-integrated smooth tannins and acids. Drink 2001-2004+

1998 Shiraz
Wine Enthusiast 2001

The blackberry, vanilla and toasty oak elements are nicely balanced on the nose and in the mouth. Deep fruit shines, and the supple mouthfeel is very appealing.

Finishes long, with a compelling back-end bouquet that completes the package in fine style.

1998 Shiraz
Wine and Spirits, February 2001

This ‘98 is filled with plush, ripe shiraz flavors. All the black fruit rolls around on the tongue, voluptuous and bold. It’s inherently simple, yet deliciously rich. Open a bottle with steak au poivre.
(4,000 cases)

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