SANDALFORDWines Margaret River Range Shiraz 2008
This receives 93 points out of 100 in James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion 2010 edition with the comment “crimson-red: a high-quality Shiraz with bright spicy notes to its plum and blackberry fruit, sustained by fine, but positive, tannins and integrated oak. Value. Drink to 2016”.
Australia’s wine people understand that WA produces ‘world class’ cabernets, chardonnays and sauvignon blanc semillon blends but those same people understand that South Australian shiraz has been Australia’s finest for a long time.
Recently, and for the first time, WA shiraz has started to win prizes on the national wine show circuit and this very reasonably priced wine has taken this to a new level.
The National Wine Show is held in Canberra every November and, as befits Australia’s premier wine show, the wines must have won at least a medal in another major wine event to be allowed to compete.
The Sandalford Margaret shiraz 2008 has won gold medals at Cowra, Perth, Adelaide and, most recently, at Canberra, where it won the trophy for Best 2008 Red Wine, a great win but not a lot of serious red wines are on the market and thus eligible for entry at 18 months of age.
The judges then gave it the trophy against the might of South Australia’s world-beating Shiraz for the Best Shiraz, Premium Classes.
Then, against the roll call of many of Australia’s greatest and most renowned cabernet sauvignons and our ever improving Pinot Noirs and the like, it went on to win the trophy for Best Dry Red Table Wine of the show.
I remind you that this is a wine with an RRP of $21 and that it can regularly be purchased on special at well below this.
This soft, fruit-driven, youthful, intense, dense, compact and balanced wine has hints of blueberry and anise with its varietal shiraz flavours within its satisfying length.
Given this wine’s reviews and its four gold medals, and taking into consideration that it can be purchased on special for $16 or $17, let’s assume that it would be difficult to find a better value WA shiraz.
This is among the six or eight best value and most delicious under-$19 shiraz yet produced in WA and, occasionally when at $15, it is probably the State’s greatest value shiraz yet.
17.9pts and $21
Wine of the Week
Skillogalee riesling 2009
It is uncommon to find a wine that is utterly captivating and totally satisfying – and especially so from a lesser known label. Well, we’ve found one!
Some years ago, one of the great and world-famous English women Masters of Wine said riesling was her drink of choice.
At the time, one of WA’s (and Australia’s) greatest wine makers and show judges then stated that this was her view of riesling as well. My wife too has preferred riesling to all other varieties for at least a decade and we regularly taste varieties from all over the world.
The Skillogalee Riesling 2009 is in almost perfect harmony and it is intense yet soft, fruity, long and complete. There is not a hint of acid or any feel of grip or awkwardness. It has retained all of the young and fresh exuberance and all that is best of the aromatics, fruit appeal and mouth feel that riesling can provide.
It will be almost unmatchably delicious drinking over the year before beginning its 10-15 year development.
This is my wife’s favourite current drinking riesling.
18.2pts RRP $25.95