Vanessa

9.1

Sandhi, Sanford & Benedict, Sta. Rita Hills, Pinot Noir, 2016, ABV 13.5%.

This Pinot Noir comes from the Sta. Rita Hills AVA of Santa Barbara County in the Central Coast region of California. Despite California having generally a Mediterranean climate, due to its westerly location, Sta. Rita Hills AVA receives cooling maritime and fog influences from the Pacific Ocean, aiding in the preservation of acidity, lending balance, finesse, and elegance to the resulting wine.

This wine is medium ruby with a medium(+) intensity of youthful aromas. The aromas include primary notes of candied cherry, strawberry rhubarb, orange peel, violet, tulip, mint, wet stone, white pepper, secondary notes of nutmeg, and tertiary notes of earth and wet leaves.

On the palate this wine is dry, with medium(+) acidity, a medium body, medium alcohol, delicate tannin, and medium(+) intensity in flavors consistent with the nose. This wine has a medium(+) finish.

This is a beautiful wine with a strong fruit character and expression. It is well-balanced and offers concentrated aromatics and flavors and nice complexity. — 5 years ago

with Deked1

Mark Eastom

9.0

Cured meats, wild berry, pepper spice, underbrush, dried herbs, oak spice. Nice balance between cool climate and warm. Worked well with duck. — 6 years ago

Aaron Rankin

9.1

Napa Syrah. Med+ acidity. Only 12.9% ABV. Hot Napa climate gives this deep, dark fruit. Nose has savory elements at first, that quickly dissipate, revealing black cherry. Reminiscent of Grenache. — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Craiglee have been making wine on this site since the 1860s In a 3 Level bluestone gravity fed winery - about a half hours drive north of Tullamarine - Melbourne International Airport. Aromas of Liquorice and Spice. Medium minus palate weight - very different to Barossa or McLaren Vale Shiraz. Medium To light weight tannins. Great length despite the lack of palate weight - like a Pinot lovers Shiraz. Years ago I used to buy this cool climate Victorian Shiraz because of the white and black pepper, but no sign of that in this one - is Pat Carmody picking a little riper? Worth a visit for any visiting overseas Wine Lover so close to Tullamarine. — 8 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.0

Well made. My first venture into Tasmania wine. It was fleshier than I was expecting from a cool climate. Kind of peachy with some baking spices. Tried it over two days. — 9 years ago

Jayden Barker 🇦🇺

9.0

Another masterstroke from Steve Pannel, beautiful cold climate shiraz, good body, dark berries, touch of soft spice but overall a nice fruit driven shiraz for Australian climates. — 9 years ago

Rocket Rod

9.4

Wonderful cold climate Cabernet Sauvignon from just outside of Hobart. Herbaceous almost grassy with a hint of mint. Intense black fruit on the mid-palate with a wonderful grippy kick. Had four of these now over 4 years and yet to be disappointed. The bottle variation is almost nonexistent. — 10 years ago

Johnno Harris

9.6

This is such a good LL release. Cool climate Shiraz / Syrah at its very best. So good. — 5 years ago

Ben Christen

9.4

Cool climate cab. Delicious. One bottle became two. — 6 years ago

with Ellen

Bob McDonald

9.5

Deep Ruby in colour. Cherry, red fruits generally, stems and a Jujube confectionery note. Intense red fruits on the medium bodied palate. Lovely texture and mouthfeel - sweetish. So obviously delicious it is difficult to look beyond anything else. From Australia’s most southerly vineyard in the Huon Valley south of Hobart. Visited there a few years ago with the family and had a lovely lunch. This wine won the Trophy for Best Pinot Noir at the Australian Cool Climate Wine Show in 2014 - and one can see why. — 6 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

Love these cool climate Shirazes from Canberra District. A riot of white pepper and spice. Medium bodied with earthy minerality with some charcuterie notes. Short term cellaring from this point. Took a bottle to the UK 23 weeks later on 26th July 2019 and had it with chicken at sister Helen and Nick’s place. Consistent tasting notes as above. — 7 years ago

Daniel K

9.2

A shining example of cool climate, domestic syrah — 8 years ago

Patrick Derdeyn

9.3

I'm so impressed by the complexity in this for such a young wine. How often do you hear CA syrahs being compared to N. Rhone? Way too much right? Well, how many CA syrahs out there are cold climate, coming in at 12.0%, and bringing the funk? This starts interesting with a soft fruit nod and then ends with an earthy funk punch. Could potentially be a dead ringer for a fine St. Joseph with another 7-8 years. — 9 years ago

Bob McDonald

8.9

Expected more of the 2012 National Wine Show Trophy winner for Shiraz although at $15 great QPR. Cool climate continental Shiraz from the developing Gundagai district- similar terroir to nearby Canberra district. Aromatic spicy nose - medium weight minerally palate with moderate length. Short term collaring. — 9 years ago

Jim Chen

9.0

Aged cool climate Syrah from a consummate family. The tertiary flavors are stellar. — 5 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Consistent notes from a year ago when we visited the winery in Porongurup WA and spent a wonderful hour with Owner and winemaker Rob Diletti. I love these cool climate peppery Shirazes. Should leave having the next one for a couple of years. — 5 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

Grabbed another bottle, keeps getting better with age. The Prisoner Wine Company’s eponymous first wine was inspired by the drinkable “mixed blacks” made by the Italian immigrants who originally settled in Napa Valley. Fruit from vineyards in warm Oak Knoll and cool-climate Carneros with just a touch of Roussanne. Pleasant aromas of tropical fruits and citrus. Fresh flavors of peach, apple and lemon zest, well balanced, vivid acidity with nice mouthfeel. Lingering finish ending with mineral notes. wow! — 7 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.4

Pax Mahle makes majestic Syrah that is light and gentle as single vineyard cool climate Pinot. His wines encapsulate the best of the idiosyncratic grape in a more delicate than typical frame that is complex and lean, but neither thin nor meager.

His Wind Gap Majik single vineyard has funky expressive aromas of iodine, menthol, violet, olive, and black peppercorn. Flavors of herbs, unripe blackberry, and salty minerals. Tons of flavor and body at an astounding 11.5% ABV (2014 was 10.4%!).

P.S. considering buying his Pax Hillside which got 100 points from @Antonio Galloni last year. If anyone has tried 2017 please let me know how it was. — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

You know when you go on holidays and think you have brought enough wine from your cellar and you end up running out. This is what happened to us on the Gold Coast and we ended up buying 2 bottles of this excellent Shiraz to top up. From the very good 2015 vintage. Being a Shiraz from Coonawarra one expects more cool climate characteristics of Pepper Spice and dried meats but this has fuller Berry flavours with supple yet unyielding tannins. Drinking any Penfolds Bin No Red @2 years of age is probably committing infanticide but no more so than this beautiful 2015. Buy some and don’t touch it for 15 years at least! When I get home I will be buying a half dozen. — 8 years ago

TheSkip

8.9

I had very high expectations for this wine. I had heard a lot of very good things about Bedrock. This was my first one.

It came out of the bottle hot. Despite a couple of hours, it remained mostly hot. Strawberry and cassis on the nose. Definite American oak. A slightly bitter and metallic finish.

I was surprised to read the back label that claimed this was cool climate. It doesn't feel like that at all.... — 10 years ago