Had two bottles of this last week on different occasions. Caveat- Decanted 1 hour prior to drinking. I may not have given it enough time in the glass.

Must say it is an excellent Shiraz but my scale can't add up the 98 pts that Parker gave it. Remarkably similar to the '99, this inky dark purple Shiraz has plenty of blackberry fruit, blueberry earth aroma, very good density, touch licorice, and oak; however, it had nowhere near the 60 sec finish purported by Parker. No faults. Well made. Nice balance. But somewhat boring. Could not find the special quality that pushes it to near perfect. Low 90's, say 93 pts wine, and for $50-60 worth sampling but definitely fairly valued. But I bought too many gustation untasted. I have 8 more, will sell 2 at cost or a small profit, drink 1 in NY after a longer decant to answer that question fairly, and probably cellar the rest to see what happens. Might be pleasantly surprised. Might not.

This is a fine wine, but did not rock my socks off, nothing special about it, really little different from 99 or 98. Makes me think the US market is being flooded by what for a lack of a better term I'll call style driven wines, aimed at what the producers and importers think is an American taste profile, more fruit, less pepper, and relatively boring on the whole. Zin South. Perhaps my palate is changing, but I'm beginning to prefer most of all, wines with time tempered complexity to tannic fruit bombs cloaked in oak. I do not dislike the latter but am getting tired of the homogeneity in taste of so many wines drunk early. I realize it's still useful to sample early for understanding and purchase, but... Still my WOTY so far is a '85 Cos. Just fabulous. I'll be curious what the Oz judges think.

Doc, you have 4 coming your way that I am holding.

Jones made similar comments/TNs.

I'm including your 4 in my 8. I will wind up cellaring 4 or 5. A well made wine, but no 98 ptr. I realize several on this site have rated it 95+, but it is not that either IMO. With little to differentiate it from the '98 and especially the '99 other than the numerical year, the purchase price of $55 for 6 here and $59 for 4 from you is the most I would pay.

Surprised that JNW 1 and I agreed on something. This has happened more frequently recently and has me worried FWIW, I am having more differences of opinion with Parker than Jones on wines lately, though I am not as expert as either

But if we both have similar opinions, consider the argument all the more strongly.
In fact, hammer it home.

Oh lcc, BTW, please bring the wines on Thurs.I'll need one for the after party.

Dr T...

Is it possible that this wine will need more cellar time to bring out the real goods?
My experience with a lot of Oz wine is that they improve significantly if laid to rest
for 6 months to a year.

Could be budman. It has plenty of ripe fruit and tannin, low acid. Structure is there. Almost Napa like. That's why I'm cellaring some for next ~10 years or +.

Look, my disappointment is more based on the expectations generated by hype after WA than on the reality. A 92-94 pt wine for high $50's is a reasonable purchase. Just don't buy a case! Or 10, like I did.
I don't think this will develop into a 98+ pointer, that's all. If it does, well, surprise, surprise; and, that's why I am keeping my day job.

FWIW, i just searched to see what others said, though I can't find JNW review. Many others rated this higher than I
Eric White- 95
Vino Me- 93-94
R2-D2- 95-97
Alan Weinberg -95+

On the other hand go to squires site; lots of 90-91 pts.
Tanzer 90
WS-? probably coming soon

I'll pop one for you at the afterparty. You be the judge. Judge Bud.

Dr T..

I have a large grin on my face right now!!!

I would also have to imagine that all of the Dead Arm here in the states is fresh off the boat, so therefore may be subject to severe bottle shock. Try one in 6 months and it may be tasting different..........hoping!

Time to pop one of these to try.

Seek...

My sediment exactly!

Sediment-------->as in what you pour the wine off of when decanting?

Found this at PJ's Liqour warehouse (online) for 52/btl. Good deal I thought for this wine.

saw it a few days ago. they are sold out.

Just placed an order for three bottles. Seems like it's back in stock.

SOLD OUT. Just called them. They had 4 bottles & they are gone. May be, it was you, Fred. Call & double check.

Well CRAP! They are sold out. Thanks for the heads up.

Darn I thought I had a bit of a coup going on there for a second.

Oh well.

Had one of these Sunday and I have to agree with the notes hear that it wasn't what I was expecting out of a Parker 98 point wine. It needs at least two hours in a decanter and I found it needed to be filtered into a decanter as well. The bottle I opened had a good deal of bricking and fine sediment suspended? Has anyone else found this to be true? I wasn't expecting it and by the time I decanted it was too late. 92-93 points

I've had the 98 and 2000, and have several bottles of 2001 and have yet to open one. I've done a fair bit of internet surfing looking for info on this wine and from what I've read this is nowhere near ready to go. Neither is the 2000, based on my tasting and reading. The 98 is probably just now getting into its prime.

When I had the 2000 I decanted it for about 10 hours and it was still improving 3 hours after that as we finished the bottle, in the company of a friend from Oz who also loves big chewy reds. He too commented that it needed more time.

So if you are thinking of opening a bottle of 2001 now my fist advice is to say "Wait!!!!". If you can't then give it at least the day in the decanter. To be honest, I was going to open my first bottle today, in honour of my favourite sport's big finale, but forget to decant it this morning and so decided to wait for Valentine's Day or our anniversary (March) or some other Big Event worthy of such a big wine.

bman...

My first Dead Arm was a 99 a month or two ago. I decanted it for 4 hours, and it just kept getting better as the bottle got emptier. Lord only knows how good it would have been the next day!!!