Brokenwood Regional Blend Shiraz 2009

Brokenwood make a variety of wines from fruit from all over the country. When I first opened the box and noticed the label I was immediately felt a glow of joy as I thought I was in for some Hunter Valley magic but alas on closer inspection this wine comes from McLaren Vale and from a very warm vintage.    This wine is 70% McLaren Vale with a touch, 30%, of Beechworth thrown in.

Brokenwood Regional Blend Shiraz 2009

When I normally taste I have at least five bottles open at one time so I can track their development over three to seven days but with this wine I just kept on wanting to go back to this over all the other wines.  This wine does have richness, through the flavours of tar and chocolate, woven through it but it never gets a head of itself.  There are even elements of glazed cherries and spice mixed with dark plums that freshen the palate right up. In fact I wrote down elegant in a lighter full bodied style across the top of my notes.  In the end I thought a lot of this wine and even though there was a little alcohol warmth on the back palate, for the vintage this is spectacular. I guess that one of the things that takes it up the quality spectrum was the fact that I drank more of this wine that the other samples combined as it was so appealing. 

Alcohol: 14%

Price: $32

Rated: 89

Drink: Now or over the next 7 years