Chateau Yaldara 1847 Grand Pappy’s Shiraz 2018
- 97
- $320
- Drink by: 2023-2043
Share
Another stunning Barossa Shiraz, built for the long haul, but just as ready to give over to immediate gratification, if that is your thing. The makers seem to have taken everything that makes a cracking Barossa Shiraz and jammed it into this bottle as hard as they can. Open it and it all comes tumbling out. Black/purple in colour, we have cassis and chocolate, warm earth and tobacco leaves, dry herbs and cloves. There is good early complexity, a creamy texture, impressive length and silky tannins. The balance is immaculate. Oak, but it is melding so well that it merely adds to the impression of a big, bold, wonderful red. Twenty years will hardly dint this stunner. Scoring these wines is always a balancing act. It should be acknowledged that there are winelovers for whom this style is not their preference and they will wonder what all the fuss is about. Others will think this score utterly miserly. Take your pick. Personally, I do love it.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
