2001 Penfolds Barossa Valley RWT Shiraz
Decanted, poured after 2+ hours of aeration (amazingly, virtually no sediment).
Inky, purple hue.  Pronounced nose features profound aromas of toffee, coconut, spice cookie (ginger snap?), black cherry, vanilla, menthol & eucalyptus, etc.  Medium to full bodied and surprisingly elegant, everything well balanced with the fruit starring in the flavor department (current, plum, black cherry).  Long, extended finish ends with oak and continued notions of fruit.  Floral aromas, meat, and a distinct herbaceous quality developed on the nose as the wine evolved throughout the evening.  For lovers of spicey, vanilla oak (I can't tell if they use French or American...IMHO, this wine really exhibits traits from both).
All-in-all, this is a beautiful Aussie, 98 point aromatics.  Better than the '99 Grange I tasted a few months ago.  Clearly, this wine still has significant upside and life ahead of it.
Vine 96+

The RWT is one of my favorite - pure pleasure - wines. I've got a few of the 01s but have yet to crack one...sounds like soon (perhaps over the holidays) might not be a bad time...thanks for the note!

Perfect wine for the holidays! This is the kind of wine that you just want to curl up with on the couch and sip throughout the chilly winter evening.
I've got 2 more of these and I'm definitely tempted to open another...
But I won't. Way too much life still in front of this one!

Well I finally cracked one of these - last Saturday night - and it was delicious and a great hit with all present. The wine was powerful and very fruit forward- but not in a typical "hot" Australian style (no cough syrup here - not at all - I could agree with elegant - even considering its punch)  - more like a monster cab/merlot blend - fleshy like a nice full bodied Merlot but with a very nice structure and still with some noticible (but not at all overpowering) oak. Even my bud who claims to only like Napa Cabs (that he only drinks on other's expense account)  -  and nothing else - had to admit that this was indeed a great wine. Better then the 2000 certainly - though not as good as the 98 any of the times I've had it. Really outshined the 98 Leoville Barton that we served after it (though I think it was an off bottle)