Mount Pleasant (McWilliams), Maurice O'Shea Shiraz, Hunter Valley

Probably cellared too long

2004 vintage

Under cork extracted with an Ahso. Obvious cork glued to side if neck. As with last year's bottles, the wine is in excellent condition. Deep plum red. Closed nose, only alcohol esters apparent to this scribe. Soft dark berry fruit, silky tannins. Pepper. Divine. Addendum. Opening up after 30 minutes. Porty stewed plums now.

2003 vintage

Classy wine from an excellent year. True definition of a Hunter Shiraz. Still purple hues. Cassis, vanilla and plums flow through to the sweet palate. Soft tannins follow in a beautiful balance. A delight.

2011 vintage

Refer previous notes. Cork crumbled but wine fine.

2003 vintage

Unlike previous bottles, this cork crumbled. So was the the era of inconsistent quality corks even in premium wine. Still, the wine survived. Warm alcohol esters lift the nose. Colour holding dense dark plum, no hint of age. Well integrated fruits give way to lingering fine tannins. Pepper. Drink me.

2003 vintage

Under a damn fine cork hardly used. As such my opinion of the wine has not changed since previous notes.

2003 vintage

Under cork hardly used. Still deep dark ink red. Impenetrable. Earthy and cherries/plumb. Soft well balanced, lingering drying fine white pepper tannins. At its peak. Drink me.

2003 vintage

Beautiful The wine has a light sweetness to it .liquorice with complexity and length Made me realise why people seek out this wine

2011 vintage

BBC Long weekend 2021; 6/11/2021-6/13/2021 : smooth, broad palate. Not developed, still youthfully fruity, just lacking excitement.

2003 vintage

Appearance: deep, garnet. Nose: medium plus intensity; aromas of meaty, black pepper, ripe dark cherry, plummy, licorice, black olive, dark chocolate. It’s fully developed. Palate: dry, high acidity, medium plus tannins super fine texture, high alcohol, full body, medium plus flavour intensity, long finish. Overall, it’s a very good wine. Drink now, at its peak already. This bottle seems to be heavier and darker than my impression of the last bottle. Ultra fine white sand texture tannins (if you know …

2003 vintage

Appearance: medium ruby with garnet rim. Nose: medium intensity; aromas of wet leaves, meaty, dried herbs, savoury, earthy, stewed fruit, dried plum. It’s fully developed. Palate: dry, high acidity, high tannins, medium plus alcohol, medium plus body, medium plus flavour intensity, Smoke, dark plum, wet leaves and dark chocolate come through. The finish is medium plus. Overall, it’s a very good wine. Drink now, not suitable for further ageing. I feel this bottle is at its peak now. A lot …

2003 vintage

Under cork which held up well. Dark berries to the nose even at 17 years. Showing some brownish edges to an otherwise dark murky red (fine sediment in solution). The huge brooding fruit character has softened somewhat but the peppery tannins linger. Not bad for the age. Went well the BBQ pork ribs.

2003 vintage

Initially quite closed. Decant for 90 plus minutes.

2003 vintage

Lovely, balanced Hunter shiraz. Lots of spice and earthy notes. This will good for another decade.

2004 vintage

Maurice O'Shea Experience May 2018 (Mount Pleasant, Pokolbin, NSW) : The most restrained nose of the four on show today. It’s still tightly wound, albeit approachable, seems to be the norm with Hunter ‘11s across the board. This looks like a sleeper which will outlive most other vintages. Everything is packed into this, just under wraps at the moment. 94+

2011 vintage

Maurice O'Shea Experience May 2018 (Mount Pleasant, Pokolbin, NSW) : The nose on this is a winner. Beautiful. It’s in a really good place at the moment, have been a little underwhelmed with these ‘03s in the past, but would say it’s close to peak at the moment.

2003 vintage

Gorgeous wine. Everything in balance - fruit, acidity and tannins. Has the typical Hunter earthiness, but wonderfully mellowed. Hunter shiraz at its best.

2004 vintage

Hosting GC from WB : Violets, ash, blueberry and some toasty oak. Youthful palate, with plenty of vibrant red fruits. Seems quite clean and lifted, the oak shows a bit but it isn't too distracting for me. Enjoyable.

2003 vintage

Lots of red fruit and some dark plum. Tannins are soft and integrated. Plenty of acidity providing a dry fresh finish that is long and lingering. Would have been interesting to pair with a strong cheddar. Two remaining, will be interesting to see how it ages from here.

2003 vintage

Rich and concentrated. The wine has great length with silky tannins. Really enjoyable.

2004 vintage

Very good but not quite as good as the '00; was expecting better from the great '03 vintage, a little one dimensional. Possibly in a flat development stage, keen to revisit in 4-5 years to check on the development.

2003 vintage

Beautiful wine. Such a shame it was my last bottle. Would love to have some more.

2003 vintage

Spicy on the nose with blueberries. Deep ruby colour. Red fruits, plum, earth, tobacco on the palate. Tannins wonderfully refined. Amazing length, just goes on and on. Many layers to this wine. This has a lot of years ahead of it, but is drinking very well right now.

2004 vintage

Hunter Valley - 6 Cellar Doors (Hunter Valley) : {screwcap, 13.5%, A$110} At this stage of the tasting I don’t find the O’Shea all that different to the 1946 Rosehill vines wine, save that perhaps it has an extra degree of malty oak apparent, placing the spicy, earthy fruit just a little more in the background. With the production cut the standard of this wine should lift somewhat; certainly the price has; this has a wonderfully long savoury finish to …

2011 vintage

Nice, big round fruit driven shiraz with good balance. Cinnamon and plum on the nose. Followed by a big round gulp of plum and cherry with a hint of citrus and menthol on the mid palate to round it out, Long finish of pepper and red fruit

2011 vintage

Raid Len's Cellar #5 : Raspberry, blueberry, ash, licorice and some DMS but in this case it adds complexity. Good palate presence, very good length, has excellent power and lift. Super good stuff.

2003 vintage

(Langtons w Mich&Bo) Fresh red fruit, Pong, plums. stiff acidity, lacy textured. Elegant, lithe teenager, with some attitude.

2011 vintage

Langton's Classification Tasting (Carraigeworks, Sydney) : Spice, floral, cherry and earth. Palate is well balanced, with good depth and a vibrancy to the fruit that works well against the earthy savouriness.

2011 vintage

Overall a reasonable wine, mix of fruits and floral flavors with a medium finish.

2004 vintage

Not decanted, but opened and poured two glasses which sat for about an hour. This bottle was much fleshier than the 12/23/2011 bottle, with deeper fruit extract, licorice, and fig, and very high acidity that gives it much more of a Northern Rhone Syrah feel than Shiraz. The nose is nutty, chocolaty, with plenty of mint, tea, and tobacco leaf. I'd continue to hold this wine; 2015-2020 would be ideal drinking.

2003 vintage

Cabin Dinner I (Cleveland, GA) : Decanted 3 hours. Bottle purchased in Sydney 4/2011. Rich and balanced, ground black pepper, floral, nice concentration to middle and late palate. Plenty of pepper and minerality through the finish. Needs some bottle age; plenty of complexity hiding here.

2003 vintage

Still bright, and with plenty of tannin

2003 vintage

cellar door only, I believe. Smooth, with a floral nose. High 80s.

2004 vintage

Decanter New World Fine Wine Encounter (The Landmark Hotel, London) : Produced from vines planted in 1880. The nose is typical Shiraz dominated by blackberry fruit, pepper with a touch of mint. On the palate this is complex, structured and immensely concentrated. The finish is long - well over 40 seconds.

2003 vintage

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Mount Pleasant (McWilliams), Maurice O'Shea Shiraz, Hunter Valley

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