WTN: 2004 Kilikanoon Shiraz Covenant (the horror...)

[David M. Bueker]

2004 Kilikanoon Shiraz Covenant - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (4/8/2008)
Well this is like putting 75 pounds of grapes and wood into a 750ml bottle. Opened to accompany some sausages and brats for a ball game, as I thought a fruit forward wine might work well. Instead it totally overpowered some flavorful food. The oak treatment and extraction on this wine is so extreme that it tastes like resinous pine on macerated and concentrated berries. Oof. It's not hot, but the level of oak is painful, and the fruit just a blur. I just do not get wines like this. I poured about 2 ounces, and I could not finish it. Horrid.

2004 Kilikanoon Shiraz Covenant - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (4/8/2008)
Well this is like putting 75 pounds of grapes and wood into a 750ml bottle. Opened to accompany some sausages and brats for a ball game, as I thought a fruit forward wine might work well. Instead it totally overpowered some flavorful food. The oak treatment and extraction on this wine is so extreme that it tastes like resinous pine on macerated and concentrated berries. Oof. It's not hot, but the level of oak is painful, and the fruit just a blur. I just do not get wines like this. I poured about 2 ounces, and I could not finish it. Horrid.

Haven't tried the Covenant, but the Testament seems (just based on reviews) dialed down in comparison (as well as cheaper).

I think the Kilikanoon I had and liked was the Medley, a GSM blend. You might not care for that one either as WA gave it 93 points and called it liquid Viagra.

[David M. Bueker]

Every once in a while I open a bottle of Aussie Shiraz just to see if there's any chance in hell I will like it. Every time (except for some Western Australia stuff & of course Grange) I am left with the feeling that I have just consumed a fruit smoothie made wiht Smucker's jam and fresh sawed lumber.

Some day I will give up trying.

Every once in a while I open a bottle of Aussie Shiraz just to see if there's any chance in hell I will like it. Every time (except for some Western Australia stuff & of course Grange) I am left with the feeling that I have just consumed a fruit smoothie made wiht Smucker's jam and fresh sawed lumber.

Some day I will give up trying.

There's a vast range of terrific shiraz made in this country. For some strange reason, so one's exporting it. By world standards there's not that much of it, I suppose, that could be why. Even well-made Clare shiraz can be a bit polarising, with the mint and eucalyptus, and may age for many years into something attractive (Wendouree and Tim Adams come to mind). Haven't tasted any Killikanoon wines, so I wouldn't dispute your assessment of this effort.
If you are intending to continue your Australian masochism, try shiraz from NSW or Victoria instead of South Australia, if you can find them (obviously, anything marked 'South Eastern Australia' should be regarded as as a kind of Antipodean 'Piesporter Michelsberg').
Apologies and good luck!
cheers,
Graeme

David: I still like Tim Adams from Clare. Not a monster at all-very savory, even. (Some oak, though).

Every once in a while I open a bottle of Aussie Shiraz just to see if there's any chance in hell I will like it. Every time (except for some Western Australia stuff & of course Grange) I am left with the feeling that I have just consumed a fruit smoothie made wiht Smucker's jam and fresh sawed lumber.

Some day I will give up trying.

Penfold's Grange - you mean the wine that was described during its early years as "A very good dry port, which no one in their right mind will buy - let alone drink." How times have changed!

Mike

[David M. Bueker]

I've had Grange a number of times (twice blind) and for some inexplicable reason I like it.

Oouch. I actually liked this wine. More so on the second day. Your description would scare me away but my note doesn't mention the extraction. I do mention the prominent oak but the was at the front. Not something for me everyday ... but it has it place for me.

And Grange rules!

Jason

[Robin Garr]

I've had Grange a number of times (twice blind) and for some inexplicable reason I like it.

Maybe it's just me, but I generally loathe young Grange and love older Grange. I think it takes all that wood a very long time to integrate.

[David M. Bueker]

I've had Grange a number of times (twice blind) and for some inexplicable reason I like it.

Maybe it's just me, but I generally loathe young Grange and love older Grange. I think it takes all that wood a very long time to integrate.

I've never had one that was less than 10 years old.

[Robin Garr]

I've never had one that was less than 10 years old.

My best advice to you, then, is to steer very well clear of the young stuff.

I can't sustain a strong argument with you here, anyway. The "blockbuster" style of Shiraz/Syrah/Pinot is not really to my taste either.

But largely thanks to scrupulous fruit sourcing, I do feel that once you get past the wood (or let it integrate), there's more to Grange than just the Emperor's New Clothes.

I've never had one that was less than 10 years old.

My best advice to you, then, is to steer very well clear of the young stuff.

I can't sustain a strong argument with you here, anyway. The "blockbuster" style of Shiraz/Syrah/Pinot is not really to my taste either.

But largely thanks to scrupulous fruit sourcing, I do feel that once you get past the wood (or let it integrate), there's more to Grange than just the Emperor's New Clothes.

Not that I'm a Grange expert, probably had less than a dozen vintages, some young, some old. But you are correct Robin, young (newly released) Grange is not an attractive drink but the quality is often there. I've tasted young Grange and 707 side-by-side in blind tastings several times and always prefer the 707, mostly because the 707 is more approachable. Maybe its because the 707 is a Cab and I can identify the variety more readily.

I have much more experience with St Henri, which was initially produced to be of a similar level of quality as Grange, but less aggressive/powerful (read - more elegant). It never really was the equal of Grange and it has been supplanted over the years by Magill, RWT and 707, but it is still a wine that is much more of a long term prospect and can be far from integrated as a young wine. Significantly oak plays a very small role in St Henri. Grange and St Henri are excellent examples of the broad stylistic differences in Aussie Shiraz. It’s a shame that many wine drinkers, esp. those outside Oz, paint the variety with the same brush.

Mike