The Black Chook, Shiraz Viognier, McLaren Vale

Just fine.

This is a superb wine the dark berry is overwhelming and leaves you wanting more. Clean taste with a sweet flavour finishing with a slight dryness.

Not my cup of tea, quite shocking to taste a sparkling Shiraz with that much added sugar.

Palate: dry, not sweet as the classic. Rather ok but need food for this. bubble is fine, no bitterness notes. less complex.

Great

A favorite of my wife's. Not as sweet as a lot of other sparkling shiraz, but definitely sweet enough for my tastes. The bottle seems to empty very quickly when we are shading this wine.

Ok

Smells like basic Shiraz (oak, coffee, chocolate and black fruit), and tastes a bit like JD & Coke, but with a hint of vanilla on the attack and a slightly bitter finish. Strangely enough, I think this would go rather well with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, or with certain Chinese dishes that are both distinctly sweet and savory at once -- but it's admittedly a fairly narrow pairing category. The sweetness might also appeal to persons who would not otherwise …

This is a wine type that I seldom drink. Christmas is the exception. We enjoyed NV The Black Chook on Christmas eve. Pleasant drinking. I would have preferred it to be a tad more fruity.

A little sweeter and less interesting than previous versions. More like Welch's grape juice.

Drink up--starting to show some pruney notes and the apricot lift is a bit acidic and jarring.

2008 vintage

This was amazing. I expected it to be 'meh'. I've had a few vintages of this, and they're solidly disappointing-- 80 points at best. The other 08 I had, probably in 09, was underwhelming too. This bottle was lost in the corner, popped it in March 2015 expecting it to be watery or vinegar. It was spectacular. I might buy a few cases of this and just cellar for 6+ years again.

2008 vintage

Not bad upon opening but lost flavour by day 2. Maybe it's the Viognier mix.

2009 vintage

Nice nose, dark and heavy in appearance, starts off well but finish is incomplete.

2008 vintage

Black fruit, spice, licorice, warm and mouth filling, very good value.

2006 vintage

This delivers again. Not nearly as hot/fruity as I might expect from Shiraz - it's actually really dry and a little chalky. Goes great with a wide range of food and always disappears quickly.

Nice big aroma, Like the aroma better then the flavor.

This stuff is yummy and fun to drink. Ripe blackberry pie, touch of vanilla, savory and dry with nice little fizz. Would definitely buy again.

Farven er tæt og mørkerød. Serveret lidt for kold så duften er lidt svag. Efter lidt tid i glasset åbner lidt blomster noter sig og lidt vanille. Smagen er karaterfuld og jeg syntes viognier tilsat en shiraz baseret vin giver lidt ekstra. Det bliver ikke alene frugtsød frugtbombe men der kommer lidt kant og skarphed. God vin som jeg gerne vil prøve til mad for at vurdere potentiale.

2009 vintage

Not impressive. Couldn't see where drinking a regular red or non-red sparkling wouldn't have been a better choice.

Pours a deep, grape juice red, darker than a Pinot Noir, but much lighter than your ordinary inky black Shiraz. Significant visible maroon carbonation that quickly dissipates when poured. The nose is interesting, with yeasty, Cava-like notes, as well as undertones of the jammy dark cherry notes indicative of Shiraz. Well carbonated, there is a highly effervescent, slightly tonic-like quality on the palate, especially on the finish. Raspberry and tart cranberry throughout with a little tart cherry on the front …

Subtle animal funk on the nose along with rust, smoke, blood, and earthy loam. The explosive ripe cherries come through in the mouth, giving way on the finish to a mellow eucalyptus. Despite the aggressive sounding components, this wine comes off with a balance of fruit intensity poised over crazy robust elements. So much fun to drink.

2008 vintage

See bechi's review. A good bottle to have on Oscar night.

really quite horrible. Dry with a taste of chalk, no fruit, only slightly effervescent. My wife and I could not finish our first glass. poured down the drain.

Very festive; despite my best efforts to gently ease the cork from the bottle, I was greeted with a big, cheery "POP!". Dark purple with riotous bubbles and a very delicate nose of blueberries. Simple and fun with notes of dusty cocoa and blueberries. A bit sweetish, but in my opinion, not off-putting as the bubbles and acidity seem to balance it perfectly. No tannins that I could detect. This one grows on you. I don't think I'm going to …

Roasted nuts, plum and deep fruit Nose. Dry but not tannic on the tongue with nutty and slightly bitter finish. Served with oysters Rockefeller.

A bit too candied for my taste. Spicy and juicy, jut a bit too sweet for my taste.

2008 vintage

Deep red color Aroma: rich, berries - plum/currents Taste: bold, smooth, almost oily Pairing: grilled steak

2009 vintage

Sparkling (Non-Champagne) Themed Euro Lunch (Donato Enoteca, Redwood City, California) : Very dark red violet color with medium bubbles; roasted plum, black fruit, charcoal nose; roasted plum, black fruit, charcoal palate with a light sense of pepper; medium finish

Se lo tomaron las mujeres con las langostas al termidor

First sparkling shiraz I've ever had, pretty rare. It wasn't too sweet, had nice fruit notes and was medium dry -- great porch pounder or opening act. Also a great wine for that person who says they hate reds.

Tasted alongside several other bottles bu remember that it was a nice blend.

2008 vintage

very good, not sweet, just right for a sparkling red, very refreshing

Great blend. Nice fruit. Good value

2008 vintage

Drinking very nice straight away! Ripe black plums, currant, raspberry, and sweet pipe tobacco. Juicy tannins intensify through the mid-palate, propelling this nicely to clean finish. A bit of earthy funk on the nose as well. Very nice for the price, and stood up to spicy BBQ ribs very well.

2006 vintage

typicval over the top aussie shiraz

2008 vintage

Inky black Shiraz lot of tannin not overly balanced but held up to BBQ ribs and sauce

2006 vintage

Its no longer black but its still the chook. Now here is some good sparkling shiraz.

94% Shiraz, 6% Viognier. I enjoyed this wine tonight. Nothing spectacular, but very serviceable and a good pairing with grilled gourmet hamburgers. Standard Aussie Shiraz nose of dark fruit, some vanilla and spice. The viognier kept the weight of this down a bit, which was refreshing because it was really hot outside. Finish was pleasant, albeit uneventful. Serve slightly chilled. Drink now.

2006 vintage

Now its just the Chook. Apperently they got sued over the "Black Chook". So now, a brown chook. More serious than some sparkling shiraz, great for BBQ.

Pleasant. Somewhat fruity.

2008 vintage

Not typical Aussie shiraz but little to compare to Cote Rotie. Wish I had decanted because as the bottle was finished things were beginning to happen. Dense black fruit, low (14.5 alcohol), almost absent tannins that affected the balance a bit. Good value.

2006 vintage

Red licorice nose with hints of violet. On the palate, the licorice continues along with blueberry and a bit of candy apply towards the end.

2008 vintage

Nose exactly like my memory of violet chewing gum. Hated the gum, but liked the nose quite a bit. Very interesting sea water flavor in the initial attack. Blackberry/prune favors dominate but finishes a little hot.

2008 vintage

I decanted this wine about 4 hours. The nose had very nice aromatics. Lots of dark, jammy fruit with a small amount of floral notes underneath. The back-end had a very tiny bit of pepper. The palate had a medium weight, but it was very rich and jammy. It had lots of blackberry and prune juice, with a pretty good floral finish. Not overly complex, but a nice drink nonetheless.

2008 vintage

This needed about an hour of decant time before it got interesting. Right out of the bottle it was a big fruit bomb with no complexity. It opened up really nice to raspberry, plum, vanilla, cinnamon and spice on the nose. Good balance on the mid-palate, but a little hollow on the finish. Paired nicely with leftover beef stew. Great QPR for $14.

2006 vintage

Aromas of burnt hair and prunes. Prunes upfront changing to black pepper. Reminds me of some okay Northern Rhones. A little hot and not much of a finish. Nice, but not great.

2008 vintage

Big, aromatic, nose of extracted blackberry and some musk, excellent height. Generous mouth of blackberry pie and lawn clippings. Medium length finish that is maybe a bit too short (considering the generosity of the nose and mouth) of blackberry jam, prunes. It has big dimensions that don't quite carry over to the finish.

2008 vintage

I enjoyed this wine tonight, and it was pop and pour. Nose is similar to previous notes, but perhaps more subdued. I didn't notice big tannins nor astringency. Had this before and during dinner, which was a wonderful chicken pot pie.

2006 vintage

Not as bold as I had once remembered.

2008 vintage

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The Black Chook, Shiraz Viognier, McLaren Vale

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