Hickinbotham, Clarendon Vineyard Brooks Road Shiraz, McLaren Vale

Aroma bouquet: Cherry, cinnamon, vanilla Color hue clarity: inky dark cloudy garnet Taste texture finish balance: mild tannins, spice, juicy, medium body, plum, dry finish Overall: 4.5/5, excellent wine

Tasted after 90 minutes of air. Sweet blackberry fruit. Some dusty tannins. Firm grip. A bit of eucalyptus here.

Seattle/ Walla Walla Trip Day 1 (Seattle, Washington (Brother's House)) : Day 1: Natural cork. 14.5%. Eucalyptus, blackberry, spice, black pepper and minerals. Big style but balanced and long finish. Outstanding wine. 94 points Day 2: This is drinking really well right now with black pepper, blackberries, prunes, spices, rose petals, more subdued Eucalyptus and black licorice, Very balanced wine overall. 94+ points Recommendation: I need to buy more of this wine at $55 via auction.

Hickinbotham Vertical (Oak Barrel, Elizabeth Street, Sydney) : Black cherry, berry, plum, sweet spice, polished oak lends vanilla. Juicy black hued fruits, vanilla, a little chocolate, integrated and softly textured tannins persists and have a powdery quality on the back palate, slightly savoury underpin and a smidge of liquorice. Long, alcohol warmth is well manage but present with those fine tannins on the finish, fruit doesn't quite make it. Very polished. Hmm to okay.

Love this Producer's CS, not quite as enthusiastic about their Shiraz. This was extremely smooth but fairly jammy. Plum, blackberry, black licorice, jam.

Served to 6 tasters, all raved. Beautiful. Dark fruit and velvet tannins.

Cf. the CellarTracker Article link [lower lft] to get specific info for this vintage, including acclaim. ≈1 hr decant into a plastic, cylindrical pitcher which was then closed; SOME sediment noted on bottle's shoulder; Private Preserve after Day 1 N: Slightly closed; Fragrant, but tough to parse: A melding of blk berries, choc, POSS pyrazines, & definitely blk pepper? P: Med, poss LM, body; NICE frt met by an astringent pucker which only very slowly works itself into a LONG …

Opened ≈50 min prior; Private Preserve after Day 1 Cf. the CellarTracker Article link [lower lft] to get specific info for this vintage, including acclaim. N: Closed; Ripe berries with notes of pyrazines, but lacking stamina? Earthiness with swirling/addt'l air P: Med body; Rndish entry with NICE, almost swtish frt met by an astringent pucker which fairly seamlessly pretty much works itself out by the LONG, BALANCED finish with, ult, an elegant TANGY/swtness to the almost totally resolved, very, VERY …

Taste at MJs. More restraint for a Shiraz. Nice layering. Some dark fruit.

I’m getting butter and oak, missing depth fruit and acid.

Winebar [4 Whites & 6 Reds] from 07/28/17 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA) : Cf. the CellarTracker Article link [lower lft] to get specific info for this vintage, including acclaim. N: Slightly closed, but SEEMS deep/rich (plums with notes of minerals?); Intensity lurking! P: Med, poss MF, body; Rndish entry with NICE frt met by puckerish astringency which SEAMLESSLY, but only partially, resolves by the VERY LONG, exquisitely balanced, ULT pleasant finish. Approachable now with food, I'm guessing this …