Andrew Thomas, Elenay Shiraz, Hunter Valley

67 Pall Mall: Andrew Thomas (Carlton Wine Room, Melbourne) : Very enjoyable developing wine with nice freshness and a medium (+) nose starting on bright red fruits and adding cassis, black cherry, violets and rose. Oak related flavours coming through more strongly than the '22.tasted in the same flight. Delicious to drink now or cellar for longer.

{screwcap, 14.2%} Plenty of toasty oak supporting ripe red fruit. Only a little developed, but with medium dusty tannins and lowish acidity. It’s rich but not especially complex. Will keep. Some development still likely I think but it’s not a wine that shouts ‘Hunter’ if that’s what you’re looking for.

Thomas Elenay Virtual Tasting; 11/2/2021-11/4/2021 : Smoky oak on the nose, along with black cherry, pomegranate and violets. Palate shows some more oak influence, tempering down the sweet fruit at this early stage. Seems to have some good structure via the tannins. Could go one of two ways but I'm hopeful it will shed some of the oak and sweet fruit and find its way.

The 2018 vintage is made up of a selection of newer barrels from the Kiss (66%), Belford (14%), Cote d'Or (12%) and Dam Block (8%) parcels. Dark berried fruits, with a taut tannin profile that extends right through the length of the palate.

Drinking up, per previous note. Still a little bilgey, with a short finish. Decent save from a terrible year. Lacks character and definition. And length!

Medium colour, dark crimson, light hue. Light aroma, almost indistinct, some light pepper and oak. Plum, Blackberry, dark chocolate, spice. Medium body, short finish, prior to decanting the finish was halfway along the tongue. Improves dramatically after decanting, decent flavour and finish. Pleasant wine, I can imagine with would be a good wine in a good vintage.

{screwcap, 13.8%} I drank another of these, out of curiosity. A dead ringer for the first; it's a loose-knit, open, slightly rustic and almost rotting wine, betraying a great deal of its wet-vintage origin in the compost-like character of the strawberry-tinged flavours. Soft gravelly tannins, medium acid. What the Bdx trade might have called a restaurant vintage. ALmost medium weight, shortish finish. OK to drink, yes, but not to cellar.

{screwcap, 13.8%} I wondered about making this semi-prestige label in such a rotten vintage, but here it is. The nose does have a faintly bilgey quality; rotting fruit, soft blackberries and plums. Not hugely intense aromas on opening. The palate has strong spicy flavours, but despite an initial richness they�re rather hollow. Gentle dusty tannins, rustic, stewed black flavours, low/medium acid. No more than medium weight. A chewy astringent finish, but not derived from oak, yet still on the short …

Woods are too dominant now to be of real interest. Good length and complexity with slight heat at finish. Would oaks be completely integrated with aging?