Collector Wines Shiraz Marked Tree Red

Still richly fruited. Cherry, blackberry, mulberry. Meaty. Spices and touch of cola. Excellent balance and plenty of length. Looking at my note from four years ago, I wasn’t so wowed this time and didn’t pick up so much detail ... have a mild cold, wonder if that’s the reason, or if simply that the bottle four years ago was better than tonight’s. If the latter, does it say something about the super ripe 2009 Canberra reds that were so seductive …

I enjoyed this wine, and at this point in its evolution, I prefer it to the Reserve I had a few weeks ago. The balance is very good, with plum, blackberry, white pepper and a touch of earthiness. The acidity sits in the background, but not out of sight. The tannins are firm. The overall effect is a wine that is drinking really well now. It will last another 3 years at least.

Drinking beautifully right now Quite a bit of development in the last 2 years as secondary development of the fruit takes place.

Very fragrant. Pinot like? Light to medium bodied wine, with silky smooth tannins. Delicious.

Fragrant. Blackberry, some mulberry. Outstanding purity of fruit. Richly fruited. Cured meats. Spice. Balance spot on. Looooong. Fine tannin to finish, somehow kittens tongue and ropey at the same time. Drank over 7 hours. One of those surprisingly rare bottles that I wished was never ending. Have one bottle left, torn between cracking it open soon as this was so damn good, or giving it five+ more years rest. Probably the latter.

Alex McKay is a great winemaker and this is the best of his I have drunk so far. Drunk over 3 nights and got better each night. Bigger than I would have thought and on the first night full of cherries on the nose and plenty of that, plums, white pepper and spices with oak and fine tannin on the palate. Softened and wonderfully integrated on the second night and I would have said perfect other than for the third …

Very Pinot like nose with lovely florals and Cherry and blackcurrant. Palate delivers in spades as well. Black fruits with some nice 5 spice and silken tannins. I reckon Halliday gets his ratings wrong (too higher points) on a regular basis but he gave this a 97 and on the nose I can see why. This will age but I don't think the rest of my 6 pack will see it's peak as I just enjoyed this so much as …

As previous. Drinking well and with room for holding for 5+ years.

Dark fruits, lovely balanced tannins and oak and acid. A little spice. Medium bodied.

Spicy, full of red fruits, balanced and fresh. Wonderful stuff. What terrific QPR.