Wine Blogging Wednesday - Australian Shiraz. Add/Read Comments
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As selected by Seattle Bon Vivant this months theme is Australian Shiraz. A rummage through the Castel dominated shelves of Oddbins revealed a wine “so new I haven’t tried it yet” according to the assistant. Just wondered why it was stuck on the bottom shelf and dusty. Still, thought I would give it a go. Not a producer I have heard of is Fox Gordon – no mention in any of my reference books, no listing on any online Australian wine retailers I could find either. It’s new to the UK – this being the first vintage released here; is the most I could find out.
Fox Gordon Eight Uncles Shiraz, 2002, Barossa Valley, Australia.
Oddbins £12.49.
Deep black cherry in colour. After a couple of hours breathing and a decant (we went all the way this time for WBW!), revealed an intense blackberry aroma; powerful but refined with a layer of vanilla complexity. The palate is very rich and full - a stunningly gorgeous, typical Shiraz offering with lashings of strawberry, black cherry and blueberry fruit. There is a lot of richness here; certainly characterful and certainly worth throwing a few in the cellar for a few (8?) years.
Scribblings Rating - 94/100
Wonderful to drink on its own – the tannins are very soft - but to make WBW more of an event this was served with a substantial stew and went superbly. With Autumn well and truly ensconced, a slow cooked beef stew – brisket from our favourite local butcher cooked in a mix of Fullers 1845 , RCH Old Slug Porter and beef stock flavoured with a healthy pinch of NoMu Provencal herb mix and tomatoes. While it might have benefited with a few mushrooms to encapsulate the autumnal feel this was a superb match.
Update: The Seattle Bon Vivant has posted an overview of all the participants. There is one other UK participant this time round - Cook Sister! who was rather disappointed with a McGuigan Gold Shiraz. Others posted form Washington, Florida, Ohio, San Francisco, and North Carolina.
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Comments
Written by: David Cumming | on January 16, 2005 11:55 PM
Hi,
The Fox Gordon wines are quite new, with the 2002 vintage being the first. There are three wines in the range, The Eight Uncles Shiraz, Hannah's Swing Shiraz & Ling Louis Cabernet. All 3 wines are from old, low yielding Barossa Valley vineyards.
The winery is a coming together of Jane Gordon, Rachel Atkins (nee Fox) and Winemaker Natasha Mooney.
If anyone has any questions, or comments, please let me know on foxgordon@chariot.net.au
Cheers
David