2003 Henry's Drive Shiraz, Pathaway
A textural wine layered with dark berry fruits, licorice and earthy spice, it is very concentrated, powerful black fruits. A massive wine with 16% ABV (warm micro climates North of Coonawarra and Southeast of McLaren)!!! RP92.
The French palated and condescending elitists will not likely to like this wine. But when aged, quality Australians are difficult to get by these days, this 13 year-old, handcrafted wine is a fascinating effort the likes of which are made nowhere else in the world. There is certainly no shortage of flavor(soil is loam over limestone), and if you like your wines exuberant, flamboyant, and over-sized, this wine fills the tab, and then some.
Rightly put by Parker, who awarded RP92, the 2003 Shiraz is a full-bodied, opulently-styled red that smells of crème de cassis and blackberry liqueur intermixed with smoky meats, espresso roast, jammy black fruits, licorice, earth, and toasty new oak. It should evolve nicely for a decade or more. This is an unabashed, flamboyant, Aussie wine that is loaded with fruit, fragrance, glycerin, and intensity.
The winemaker Kim Jackson also makes the very powerful Shirvingston Team tasted 6 months ago. She likes to express terroir. The latest 2015 New Zealand International Wine Show, her wines from this winery fetches 4 Gold Medals.