Henry's Drive Reserve Shiraz 2004
Deep ruby with a tight rim. Suggest open-decanting(quite some sediments) for 1 or 2 hours. The first heavy alcohol on the nose gives way to a sweet musty, almost reductive cherry bouquet, coffee, slight leather notes. Exquisite palate with soft tannins (from ageing) and a full-bodied, textured experience(from tannins) with ripe blackberries still bold, natural and fresh enough(from the reserve, selected grape; intense; superior to most estate Shiraz). A long finish: legs are long and slow. Great value. A massive wine with 15.9% ABV (warm microclimates North of Coonawarra and Southeast of McLaren)!!! RP93.
The French palate and condescending elitists are unlikely to like this wine. But when aged, quality Australians are challenging to get by these days, and this 13-year-old, handcrafted wine is a fascinating effort the likes of which made nowhere else in the world. There is indeed no shortage of flavour (soil is loam over limestone), and if you like your wines exuberant, colourful, and over-sized, this wine fills the tab.
2004 is a good vintage for Pathway and gets a high score from Parker et Al.:
93 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: " From a cooler climate sector of Padthaway, the 2004 Shiraz Reserve is an elegant, soft, complex effort revealing Southern Rhone-like aromas of garrigue, ground pepper, and spice box interwoven with blackberries, cassis, sweet cherries, and herbal undertones. This wild, rich, heady Shiraz tips the scales at 16% alcohol. "
