(120 year old vines, 97% Shiraz, 3%Viognier)-again, a slight balsamic nose which was attributed to the Viognier. This wine was clearly the winner of the night, but with the $150 price tag, it’s difficult to justify. Dark purple in color. This was a big wine with over-extracted fruit and a hearty mid-palate that kept on going through the finish. Heavy, heavy mouthfeel. Very smooth. Big tannins. 98 pts.

Looks like an interesting tasting with all those Torbreck wines. Can you give us a summary of what you though overall please, I am sure the readers will find it interesting.

short and i had this wine about a month ago. i thought the wine was outstanding and on par with the nearly perfect 1998. i would call it highly extracted, but not over extracted. a much different experience than an over the top sparky fruit bomb. luckily i paid in the $125 neighborhood.

Opened this wine Friday night at Laurels Resturaunt in San Diego. An excellent Shiraz with a fantastic life ahead of it. My wife asked if we had some of this in the cellar, and she was glad of my answer "yes". 96+ points.

Glad you liked it, Seek.

I thought it was wonderful, but not $40-80 better than the Descendent (I paid $70 out the door for my '01 Descendent).

I agree STW. For current drinking the Descendant takes the cake for quality/price ratio. My Run Rig was $70 more than my Descendant and I would gladly take 2 Descendants for one Run Rig. I would like to do these 2 2001's side-by-side in 6-7 years.

Had this tonight. Dark rich (Purple) color. Blackberry,Creme de cassis, coffee, very full body, and a long finish (30+). Very nice wine.

slightly off topic but has anyone tried the 02? i can't seem to find a rating or tn for it on parker's site, although the rest of the 02's are there.

Interesting reading through these TNs. I had this last month and found it to be on the more elegant side of Shiraz. I couldn't get a good read on it because it was tasted after a 2002 Foley Claret, a 2002 Pride Mountaintop Merlot, 2001 Araujo, and a 1999 Shafer HSS -- all of which seemed to be bigger wines than this.

a

Jeez, I think I need to start drinking with you whiner. That's a nice lineup.

ballance,

Don't be too impressed, that is the best lineup I've had so far in 2005. I supplied the Shafer (and a Muller-Catoir to start) friends from the WS board supplied the rest.

Oh yeah, and a 1995 Bryant Family

a

Nice. Had to rub it in, didn't you.

Torbreck 2002 Run Rig Nov 04

The wine was bottled approximately 2 months ago. Whilst I have sampled previous vintages of Run Rig and there is no doubting the quality of the wine, I have never actually been tempted enough to purchase any; that was until a tried the 2002.

Power personified! Undoubtedly the best wine I have tasted from this producer. The fruit is black but there is nothing pruney or overripe and it is further enhanced by aniseed, coffee and chocolate flavours which take until the next day to finish. Full-bodied, it is already harmonious and should become seamless in time. Showing fantastic purity and complexity, it is perfectly built and will be long lived. It's tight, nothing stands out; it's a complete wine and a class act. Many wine writers write about wine using sexual references, drinking this wine is not about sex, it is making love. This is the first wine on initial release that I have rated as Outstanding (with *** for value) in almost 2 years. I will try my first bottle around 2012.

I would try the first 2001 in 2010.

Thanks for the notes and drinking windows, TORB. I'll try to hold off on both vintages for at least another 4-5 years if not longer, even though I'm now dying to sample the '02.