I don't drink much Australian Shiraz as I generally find the oak and ripeness/alcohol to be a bit much for my palate. I purchased this 2000 Penny's Hill untasted based solely upon a rather pleasant experience with the 1998 vintage. My first bottle around 3 years ago pretty much summed up my knock on Shiraz...jammy/ripe/alcoholic so I sort of forgot about the other 2 bottles sitting in the cellar. I pulled one out yesterday to accompany some "family farm" raised grilled pork chops and I was pleasantly surprised at how it had evolved.
2000 Penny's Hill "Red Dot" Shiraz
Decanted for ~ 1 hour.
Dark red color tending toward a lighter shade of purple. A quick whiff and I thought WHOA, what's going on here. Definite green and black olive aromas along with some subtle hints of bacon and violets. I could have easily mistaken this for a Northern Rhone based solely upon the nose. The palate is nicely balanced with the fruit, oak and tannins playing nicely together. My only quibble is that it did show a tiny bit of heat on the spiced/peper finish, but I really didn't notice this once the meal was served.
BTW, the farm raised pork is sooooo much better that that industrialized crap available in your local supermarket...it has flavor.
Bill