Wine Blogging Wednesday - Australian Shiraz.  Add/Read Comments

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.