WTN: Jim Barry Lodge Hill Shiraz 2007

Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Shiraz 2007
15,98€; 14,5% abv; 6,4 g/l acidity; screwed.

Purple. Mulberry, sweet dark fruit and oak - the alcohol is a little apparent. It seems to come from a much hotter climate than I remembered Clare Valley to have been. The fruit is very ripe and has a bit of a dried character, it is very full bodied and rich. The tannins and acidity do support the fruit well, but it does seem rather like a Barossa Shiraz because of its sheer ripeness (or do I misremember that the Clare Valley was a relatively cooler place?). Despite all these hot climate warnings and the apparent alcohol on the nose, the aftertaste isn't hot. Anyway, for Finland this is good value if one likes a bruiser style. (I don't, so this was more an academic exercise to me...)

Otto
Although not a 'local' I understand Clare Valley is not especially 'cool climate'. I suspect their fame for rieslings suggests a cooler climate than it actually is.

At least this sounds better than the very confected bottle that I recall last time I tried this label. The price though is (as you say) reasonable vs. what it sells for elsewhere.

regards

Ian