Geoff Merrill Jacko’s Shiraz 2015
- 96
- $35
- Drink by: 2021-2029
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This cracking Shiraz is a tribute it Michael ‘Jacko’ James, a cellar hand at the Geoff Merrill winery before he tragically passed. I am certain he would be more than delighted with the wine. 100% McLaren Vale Shiraz which spent 27 months in a mix of American and French hogsheads and puncheons, 10% of which were new.
This is dense and intense but the key is the immaculate balance throughout. Flavours range through chocolate and cloves with a hint of spices and pepper. Such silky tannins at the finish, which is impressively long. At no stage does the slide-rule perfect balance ever waiver. This is a beautiful Shiraz, showing just how impressive the wines from McLaren Vale can be. Even better, this is a genuine contender for best value wine of the year.
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.
