Top Ten Australian Red Wines - 2016

Just a beautiful Syrah from Australia. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is very nice with black raspberries, black olives, black cherries, slight floral notes and char. Full bodied. Medium tannins. Great balance. On the palate, this is delicious. Plenty of depth with flavors of black raspberries, black pepper, black cherries and char. Long finish. This is drinking well at age 8 but should still develop more. Drink over the next twelve to twenty years. Great on its own, this will be better with some food. It will work great with Indian food.
This is a 51%/49% blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose has cassis, black raspberries, graphite, black pepper, spice and char. Full bodied. Firm tannins. Good balance. On the palate, this is delicious. Flavors of cassis, \black cherries, black raspberries, slight herbal note (mint?), spice and char. Long finish. This is deep and complex if still very young. Drink over the next ten to fifteen years. This is great on its own and will work well with grilled meat, fowl or veggies.
This is a Rhone blend of 72% Shiraz, 13% Grenache, 12% Mataro, and 3% Viognier. Deep purple/garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright. The nose is deep with black raspberries, plums, black cherries, black pepper and dark chocolate. Full bodied. Medium tannins. Good acidity. On the palate, this is tasty with depth and complexity. Flavors of black raspberries, black cherries, dark chocolate, spice and char. Long finish. This is still very young and will improve. Drink over the next eight to twelve years. very nice on its own, this would be a nice pairing with Indian cuisine.
This is a classic Barossa Shiraz. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great with black raspberries, black licorice and slight violet notes. Full bodied. Medium to firm tannins. On the palate, this is delicious. Flavors of black raspberries, black cherries, spice, black pepper and slight roasted meats. Long finish. This is still young and will benefit from a few more years in a good cellar. Drink over the next ten to fifteen. This is great on its own and will work well with roasted meats or root vegetables. Excellent value.
Back around the turn of the century, I drank a lot of this wine from the 90's and the 00's. For no reason in particular, it fell off my radar, so it was fun to revisit this. And, I plan on buying more. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great. Powerful with black raspberries, cedar, black pepper, spice, dust and slight gravel notes. Firm tannins. Medium to full bodied. On the palate, black raspberries, black cherries, some gravel and spice. Long finish. This is a big wine but not over blown. Fresh with lots of energy. This is nice on its own and will work well with
This is a blend of 97% Shiraz (Syrah) and 3% Viognier. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. Thee nose is great with boysenberries, blueberries, slight dark chocolate, dust and char. Full bodied. Very firm tannins. Lively acidity. On the palate, this is both huge and tight. Black berries, black currants, some blueberries, a bit of alcohol with underlying char. This is deep and almost impenetrable. Long finish. This is outstanding today, but a huge and unwieldly wine. Give it another five to ten more years in the cellar and it will flirt with a top score. If opening now, give
Purple/garnet in color, magenta at the rim, opaque and bright. The nose is nice with black raspberries, sandalwood, slight black pepper and roasted herbs. Firm tannins. Lovely texture. On the palate, black raspberry fruit with spice and some char. Long finish. Still youthful although progressing right along. Drink over the next ten or fifteen years. Great on its own, this worked well with roasted veggies. Expensive but not crazy for the quality.
Beautiful showing. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose has black raspberries, anise, blueberries, spice, cedar and black pepper. Full bodied. Medium tannins. On the palate, this is still young but showing a lot of depth and some complexity. Delicious. Black raspberries, blueberries, coffee and anise with underlying char. Great energy and liveliness. Long finish. Drink over the next thirty years. Great on its own, this would be a nice accompaniment to a standing Rib Roast.