Head, Brunette Shiraz, Barossa Valley

Consumed over several evenings. Opened up wonderfully after 24 hours offering violets, raspberry, truffle, earth. A delicious example of aged Australian Syrah.

2012 vintage

Chocolate,leather spice. Dry……

2013 vintage

Screwcap, 13.8% alc. Deep and glossy ruby-purple. A vibrant mix of red and blue berried fruit, nutty and malty oak, pencil shavings, and some interesting and complimentary complexity in the form of some sweaty/spicy/stalky notes. Only medium bodied, though very deep and powerful. Savoury, but not to the point of being underripe; there’s still lots of sweet fruit and fresh acidity. Finishes long and dusty, slightly peppery. Opinion: fresh and vibrant wine. Superb balance, and not overcooked in any way, …

2012 vintage

Screwcap, 13.8% alc. single vineyard, Moculta, Eden Valley. Deep, dark red, still with some crimson. Love the deep and alluring nose on this; herbs and spices, forest floor, blackberry, pan juices, vanilla, and some nutty and stalky notes. Initially slippery on the palate, it tightens up on the back with really fine, chalky tannins. The stalky element is well embedded in the wine. Opinion: A really good match with sticky slow cooked beef ribs or roast. Wonderful drinking now and …

2012 vintage

A big solid wine that still needs time. Forgot that I still had a glass left in the bottle from four days ago (refrigerated ). Drinking better now than on opening. Mulberry, morello cherry, a touch of liquorice (slight) oak, full bodied, certainly not a delicate wine - Yum!

2012 vintage

Screwcap, 13.9% alc. Opaque, inky red-black with a hint of youthful purple. Really dark nose of concentrated blackberry, milk chocolate, macerated berries, vanilla, cedar, some minor medicinal notes, and star anise. Some floral aromas emerge with extending airing. Powerful, yet composed. Glossy mouthfeel, but not over-extracted, sweet, or alcoholic. Lovely freshness and vitality. Pitch perfect oak treatment � despite coming across a touch strong on the nose, it acts more in a supportive role on the palate. Fine tannins. Grainy …

2012 vintage

Med+, savoury, elegant... quite nice to drink even without food pairing ...

2013 vintage

Screwcap, 13.8% alc. Attractive dense dark red-crimson, with a youthful purple hue. Hints of light and shade on the nose. Initially, deli- and foresty- aromas and dark fruit. Then some lighter perfume. Plummy, blackberry fruit in the mouth, with oak just there as a seasoning. Pencil shavings. Good length of flavour. The stemminess is a little obvious upon opening, however with airing it seems to fold into the fruit and combine to present a very tidy and controlled example of …

2012 vintage

This is different to wines I normally drink from the Barossa, not sure if it is the whole bunch character or not. Although I liked it, I have not scored and will reserve judgment until I open the next bottle in a year or two.

2012 vintage

In a very good spot now.

2012 vintage

Nice enough, but very minty.

2012 vintage

Herbaceous nose showing the whole bunch work which I love, very well balanced though with ripe bark fruit blackcurrants and the like very nice and at a good stage but with much more development lilwft in the tank

2012 vintage

NobleRottersSydney - with Moncur Cellars (360 Bar & Dining, Sydney) : {screwcap, 13.8%} [Aaron] The 2012, from a better Barossa vintage has a sweeter nose, with peppermint, milk chocolate, tobacco; so some development is showing. The palate has a lavish and velvety texture, malty-sweet, round and attractive, with plummy flavours, soft chalky tannins, medium weight, even palate, medium length finish. Seemingly ready, will hold a while. Nice wine.

2012 vintage

NobleRottersSydney - with Moncur Cellars (360 Bar & Dining, Sydney) : {screwcap, 14%} [Aaron] It was interesting to taste the 2012, which seemed only marginally older than the 2016, but you notice the difference, with spicy, rich blackberry fruit a bit less in-your-face. The palate is medium weight, with low/medium dusty tannins, sweet blackberry fruit, and a generous, even, satisfying palate which avoids heat. Very good.

2012 vintage

An absolute joy to drink. Had it against the 2008 Brunette. The Contrarian was a much larger, juicy full bodied wine compared to the structured softer 08 Brunette. Both a joy and both brilliant wines however if I was to drink them again i'd go for the Contrarian.

2012 vintage

Deep Opaque Black Ruby with still purple rim in colour at June 2017. excellent. On the Nose its leaps out of the glass with dense Blackberry Blueberries ,Plums an Prunes with Savoury sweet oak , pepper, spice an iodine complexity. Excellent. On the palate it has sweet ripe mid palate richness ,with soft oily tannins giving good length . A true to house style of elegance , not jammy overripe style here but balanced , v/nice Is drinking great now …

2012 vintage

Had against the 2008 Brunette, 10 & 13 Contrarian, this was much larger, smoother and fuller wine than the others. My pick of the evening and a glorious drink. Dark fruits, herbs and chocolate. 13 was similar but not as "big". Favorite of the Head wines.

2012 vintage

Fantastic wine. No formal note. Lovely choc, tobacco, dark fruit. Long finish which fills the mouth.

2012 vintage

Hasn't budged much since my last note, similar flavours and a structure to age well. I do hope it develops a little more complexity as it still feels a little one dimensional.

2012 vintage

Deep red, glossy. Inky, crushed herbs, black tar spice, blackberry and red currants. Smooth a deep fragrance. Silky texture, taught palate but with nicely expressive flavours, blue and black fruits, graphite and licorice, violets, dark spice, plummy. Refined structure, lovely weight, finish is rich and a little heavy but tannins are very fine.

2012 vintage

After first opening it smelled terrible, like rotting meat. But after leaving it open for 2 days, the smell changed into fruity blackcurrant flavours. And the taste was great!

2012 vintage

Pretty good, smooth and deep palate with luscious oak and dark fruits. Nice controlled length, well balanced with some elegance to it. Lacks an x-factor or any real differentiator for a higher score though for me.

2012 vintage

As below but the stalky elements have subsided. However, those mint/eucalyptus aspects have come to the for. Not for me. Prob 91-92 now.

2012 vintage

Opened one of these tonight. 1hr decant.Earthy, raspberry notes, sumptuous palate, silky and mouth-filling. Super fine tannins, all in balance and has settled down considerably since the last bottle around 6mths ago. Drinking beautifully, but has a long life ahead of it. An absolute bargain.

2012 vintage

Very enjoyable, some lavender on the nose, great mouth feel without the alcohol poking out, raspberry like fruit with nice oak spice but worried at the lack of structure and length - this really is quite beautiful now and it may possible round slightly more but I think that will be it, as the structure doesn't seem to be there - no rush but will probably peak within the next 18 months.

2012 vintage

Quite a slick offered this one, bright fruit and a stalkiness from the whole bunches which may be polarising for some. It was right on the threshold for me but overall a very easy wine to drink with plenty of interest.

2012 vintage

This is deeper pitched and darker than the Blonde. It has some meat and iron filling notes and blood plum and cassis fruits. It is dense and tightly packed on the palate. It has flesh but everything is in check and the finish is loaded with all sorts of delicious savoury things.

2013 vintage

This bottle was a little bit too funky in stalky kind of way. Still showing pure bright red fruits, it was just a little bit too much whole bunchiness for me. I haven't found this before and it was not quite the same in another recent bottle, perhaps the food and atmosphere didn't work well this time around and made it more noticeable.

2012 vintage

This showed all the hallmarks of a classic, rich, powerful barrossan shiraz, but out of Eden Valley so has a bit more elegance about it. Fine supple tannins and signs of some complexity at three years of age. Needs at least 5+ years before we'll get an idea of what's under the hood. Built to last. It has my vote

2012 vintage

The whole bunch characters are right to the fore here but seem to settle a little with more time exposed to air. Really interesting palate, exotic and stalky, spicy and juicy with fine rippled tannins through the finish. An ususual wine and for that I quite like the difference. Unsure what is will look like in 5 years but feel it will be a younger style.

2012 vintage

This is a tremendous release, with savoury structure and complexity that highlights quality Barossa fruit and adept winemaking. The wine has a high proportion of whole bunch (60%) and a fair proportion of new oak (60%), the result is a wine that is structurally and texturally appealing with stemmy spicy plum notes on the nose that are accentuated by subtle vanillin oak. The wine has a core of earthy spicy tannins with ample red fruits and bright acidity to give …

2012 vintage

Very much like azzah's note.... I'm just not 'getting it' as yet. But the complexity is in there somewhere! Give it time.

2012 vintage

Popped and poured. Nose - Steel, graphite, gluey jubey blue and purple fruit, fig, eucalyptus.....very minor candied orange, deep heat rub and more aspects that I can't quite nail. Complex. Palate - mid weight but rich with a lot of length and a little tannin and acid rounding it nicely. Cool on the palate with a nice soft glycerol mouth feel. Palate matches the nose with a little aniseed as well. Cranberry and cream aftertaste....gorgeous. Reminds of me of a …

2012 vintage

Bright vibrant colour. Reminds me of the Torbreck Juvenilles I had last week on the nose and in the mouth. Echoes of the Natural Wine Project too. No lightweight. Juicy red cherry pulp but the pip is there too in a savoury/stalky dimension. Serious wine for the price.

2012 vintage

Having a Head Contrarian 2012. Just popped and poured. Much less intense and much less PURPLE than the 2010. Immediate impressions over 3 glasses : Spice, mint, nose clearing menthol. Quite cool climate (Mt Edelstone) like, gentle plummy, figgy, blackcurrent, nuttiness and nougat on the palate even some metallic steeliness on the nose, something I normally only get in French reds.Add a little BBQ'd fatty lamb to round it out. Like a rich hedonistic wine but with a dollop of …

2012 vintage

This wine is really, really interesting. At first I didn't really like or appreciate it, but as time walked on, I learned to enjoy its company and was sad at the end when it was all gone. Really confronting spicy and peppery (but more spicy) whole bunch action on the nose, along with some darker fruits. On the palate those whole bunches deliver drying and spicy tannins, but these are in balance with blackberry, blueberry and plum fruit. It's still …

2012 vintage

Plum red colour. Looks to be a bit of cloudiness - unfiltered? A fair bit of whole bunch action going on in the nose, although I believe this is only about 20% (smells like more). Raspberry, plums and earth on the nose too. That whole bunch delivers drying and spicy tannins which mainly complement the squishy raspberry and plum fruits. A bit of a mulchy flavour too? No noticeable oak influence. I probably wanted to like this more than I …

2012 vintage

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Head, Brunette Shiraz, Barossa Valley

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