Last night I had the pleasure of again attending one of Steve Rigisich’sBay Area Wine Project tasting events. The theme for this tasting was 2001 Aussie Shiraz, and what a great lineup it was! Credit goes to Jeff Orlik (JO) for picking and supplying the wines and organizing them into three flights of four wines each, Jeff did a terrific job! Thanks to Steve and Lisa for hosting yet another superb, well orchestrated event!

In addition to the wonderful lineup of wines we were treated to informal talks from Chuck Hayward, Aussie wine buyer for TheThe Jug Shop in San Francisco. Chuck is an amazing source of detailed information on Australian wines, as well as a wonderful and captivating speaker, it was a real pleasure to listen to him speak of wines, wineries, winemakers, geography, and Australian culture.

There was also an additional unexpected treat for the evening, and that consisted of a couple bottles of the 1999 Wolf Blass Platinum Label Shiraz, courtesy of two representative from Beringer Blass that were present and shared this outstanding, hard to fine wine with us.

Here are the wines of the evening, arranged by flight, with the group scores listed in Parenthesis (1st place votes/2nd place votes/3rd place votes, followed by total score: 5 pnts for each 1st place vote, 3 pnts for 2nd, and 1 point for 3rd).

Flight #1:
2001 Kaesler - The Bogan Shiraz (1/1/4 score: 12)
2001 Clarendon Hills Liandra Shiraz (0/0/1 score: 1)
2001 Wild Duck Creek Spring flat Shiraz (1/0/2 score: 7)
2001 Wirra Wirra McLaren Vale Shiraz (0/0/1 score: 1)

Flight #2:
2001 d'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz (5/6/2 score: 45) The #2 Wine of the tasting!
2001 Kay Brothers Amery Hillside Shiraz (2/0/1 score: 11)
2001 Tait Shiraz (5/3/4 score: 39)
2001 Marquis Philips Integrity Shiraz (8/6/2 score: 60) - The #1 Wine of the tasting!

Flight #3:
2001 Forefathers McLaren Vale Shiraz (1/1/4 score: 12)
2001 Henry's Drive Reserve Shiraz (2/8/3 score: 38) The #3 Wine of the tasting!
2001 Cape D'Estaing Kangaroo Island Shiraz (1/1/0 score: 8)
2001 Clos Clare - Clare Valley Shiraz (1/0/0 score: 5)

Here are my notes on the wines:

FLIGHT #1
2001 Kaesler - The Bogan Shiraz

2001 Clarendon Hills Liandra Shiraz

2001 Wild Duck Creek Springflat Shiraz

2001 Wirra Wirra McLaren Vale Shiraz

INTERLUDE:
2000 Margan Barossa Valley Semillon - no notes taken, steely and refreshing.

FLIGHT #2
2001 d'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz

2001 Kay Brothers Amery Vineyards Hillside Shiraz

2001 Tait Shiraz

2001 Marquis Philips Integrity Shiraz

INTERLUDE:
2002 Kaesler Barossa Valley Semillon - no notes taken, richer and rounder than the Margan, still very refreshing.

FLIGHT #3
2001 Forefathers McLaren Vale Shiraz

2001 Henry's Drive Reserve Shiraz

2001 Cape d'Estaing Kangaroo Island Shiraz

2001 Clos Clare - Clare Valley Shiraz

Bonus Wine:
1999 Wolf Blass Platinum Label Shiraz

Finale
NV Chambers Rosewood Rutherglen Muscadelle (Tokay)
Again, no notes taken, always a pleasing dessert wine and a great way to finish an outstanding tasting!

Eric,

You are amazing.

Thanks!

Great notes Eric. Sounds like a killer tasting for an Aussie nut like me. Some of my very favorites. Not surprised to see the Integrity be your WOTN. I'm jealous.

Nice line up.

Eric, were these tastings conducted blind?

Nice event Eric, thanks for your effort in putting up these TN's.

Eric... Thanks for the usual fantastic job!!!!