Chris Ringland, Shiraz CR, Barossa Valley

First off: 16.8% alcohol. Absolutely delicious and fine as a Friday night wine when you don’t have to drive anywhere. Soft, warm, deep red fruit. No sharpness. No astringency.

2009 vintage

Lots of power and intensity to this one. Not usually a fan of high alcohol wine (16% in this case) but was won over by the complex bouquet and flavors. Decanted for several hours. Even better the next day. Great value heavy hitter.

2009 vintage

Deep garnet color. Earthy nose. Some spice and reduced red fruit. A bit over extracted for me. Robust wine but simple. Good QPR.

2007 vintage

I may have sat on this one too long. The nose of the wine had a lot of spicy funk (not good funk). The flavors on the pallet were much better than the nose. It did develope some structure over hour. Overall it was pleasing but not great.

2007 vintage

Lovely. Triple yum. Five hour plus decant. Cherry mocha coffee plum yum! Sticks to your tongue great meat wine. Buy more

2009 vintage

Nice structure. A touch of alcohol but still very very good for 20 bucks. Drink in the next couple of years

2007 vintage

This wine is made by Chris Ringland, he has more 100 point wines from Wine Advocate, than any other winemaker. However, at the $20 price point, you are getting an entry-level Shiraz. Good QPR. There is no point of aging any further, tannins are smooth and the oak has mellowed. In a blind tasting, Mollydooker the Boxer and Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy were bigger and more complex. The Chris Ringland wine did not stand out, too simple. ABV: 15.5%

2007 vintage

EXCELENT RELATION P/C The wine looks Inky colored. The legs are Slow. It smells like Black Pepper, and Prune. It tastes like Prune, and Black Pepper. The body is Medium/Full. The wine has Silky texture. The wine finishes Medium.

2009 vintage

The wine looks Ruby colored. The legs are Medium. It smells like Blackberry, Cranberry, and Black Pepper. It tastes like Blackberry, Cranberry, and Black Pepper. The body is Medium/Full. The wine has Smooth texture. The wine finishes Medium.

2009 vintage

Big, bold bouquet of chocolate and cinnamon. Initial gulp of plum with a fairly sharp hit of cherry on the mid palate that is almost unbalancing in its acidity. Long lovely finish with spice, hints of menthol and mint and deep red fruit. Beautiful rounded mouth feel and structure. Very little oak with the fruit predominating. It is almost jammy. Pleasant but one for drinking now. Fruit dominates

2009 vintage

3 hour decant. Smells of an old wine cellar or a barrel hall. Huge ripe fruit that delivers waves of flavour but could be described as a bit one dimensional because after that ripe fruit there is no secondary characteristics. Sometimes you just need a big monster Shiraz to go with a big piece of steak though. I feel as though it is a drink now style of wine because while it's very enjoyable as it is now, if that …

2009 vintage

A bit obtuse at this stage of its evolution. Still, goes nice with vintage Elton John.

2007 vintage

OMG. Packing a massive 16.8% alcohol content this is one serious heavy hitter, and you can taste it too. Even after decanting for7 hours I think it would have tasted better with more time. Big, bold and a little to much for my palate but tasted much better with food (we had homemade slow cooked Beef Ragu). I like Chris Ringland wines, however I hope this one tastes better after a few years in the cellar.

2009 vintage

Pop & pour, consumed over 3 hours. Good fruit, a bit too much oak, and noticeable alcohol, but quite good. May need a bit more time to come together better however. Blackberries, black cherry and toasty oak, with a vanilla and mocha finish.

2007 vintage

Tad backward and awkward right now.

2007 vintage

Big Australian shiraz. Only had a glass and a half of the bottle and it was only devanted about 20 minutes before serving. Nice pepper spice supporting some plum and dark cherry flavors. Quite firm with a lot of structure. I think the fruit will not hold up well as the wine continues to age, but I hope that I am wrong. It lacks the balance and finesse that great Aussie shiraz can attain, but for the price it is …

2007 vintage

Good shiraz flavor. Good balance. Good for the price. Not too special

2007 vintage

not in the same class with the 06 vintage. not nearly the fruit on the balance. This one is more oak, burnt compote, and black fruits. not bad - but not what I was used to with the 06 which was amazing

2007 vintage

Pretty big Shiraz. Loads of black, jammy fruit. Firm tannins give it a powerful backbone. Licorice rounds out the finish in a pretty authoritative manner. Still a good bit of life left in this grape juice, maybe another 5 years.

2007 vintage

consistent with prior notes.

2007 vintage

Australian Big Red Flight (Cellar on Greene, Columbia, SC) : Another big Aussie Shiraz that gets the thumbs up. Not exactly my style, but still an awfully good bottle of wine. Inky black color. Nose of pure vanilla from serious oak, with a big whiff of blueberry pie, and some spicy earthy stuff. Lots of fruit, almost complex blend of cherries, blackberries and blueberries. . Has that chocolate taste that might indicate medium heavy toast. At 15.5% alcohol there is …

2007 vintage

Young inky fruit and tons of oak. Cedar and coffee notes. Bold, alcoholic shiraz with more brawns than brain.

2007 vintage

Smooth oak and dark berry. Chocolate fruit. Very hedonistic fruit bomb. Delicious but not accomplished. $19.99 OH Retail

2007 vintage

Churchill's: Aussie Regionality (Maumee, OH) : Big nose, but more elegant. Big, medium structure, elegant, oaky, delicious. $20

2007 vintage

solid shiraz for ~$20. I prefer the 2008, nore fruit and less heat on that vintage.

2007 vintage

was a nice shiraz - great value for the money.

2007 vintage

base: 50 pts color & appearance - max 5 pts: 5 aroma & bouquet - max 15 pts: 14 flavor and finish - max 20 pts: 16 overall quality & potential - max 10 pts: 6 OVERALL: 91 good effort, maybe not as smooth as the 2008

2007 vintage

consistent with other bottles

2007 vintage

base: 50 pts color & appearance - max 5 pts: 5 aroma & bouquet - max 15 pts: 14 flavor and finish - max 20 pts: 16 overall quality & potential - max 10 pts: 6 OVERALL: 91

2007 vintage

Quite tasty. Lots of dark fruit. Good with chocolate.

2007 vintage

Quite tasty. Lots of dark fruit. Good with chocolate.

2007 vintage

Dark garnet color. Jammy nose with loads of vanilla oak. Tastes of blackberry, violet, boysenberry, coffee and cranberry. The mid palate is dominated by new oak. Reasonable acidity. Extremely full bodied and a touch tiring to drink. Rich powerful finish.

2007 vintage

Do I know the difference between this and a concoction of Welch's grape juice, Jack Daniels wood chips, and Everclear? No. Am I a phenomenally successful winemaker; or, in any position to judge such? Similarly, no. Do I know a possibly-guilty-but-I-think-perfectly-defensible-pleasure when I taste one? I hope so. Did I spell and punctuate all that correctly? Unclear, though I realize this is barely third grade language, if you except the subject matter. Do I know I sound like a clichéed …

2007 vintage

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Chris Ringland, Shiraz CR, Barossa Valley

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