Tasting Notes
JancisRobinson.com 17.5
From a screwcapped half-bottle. Mid crimson. Heady, rich-but-savoury nose. If someone told me this was Tempranillo with its savoury tobacco-leaf flavours, I could have believed it. Very far from the super-sweet, super-alcoholic Shiraz of some Barossa valley floor producers, this has real lift and refreshment. Some salty leather notes along with the cassis and a hint of the French and American oak it was aged in. A very successful Armagh. The Barrys must be very proud of this wine in which fruit trumps camphor – but if I had a sore throat I certainly wouldn’t say no. Already perfectly broachable.
Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030
Robert Parker 97
My pick of the recently bottled vintages, the 2016 The Armagh Shiraz shows a bit more obvious oak (simply because of its youth) but also a wonderful taut tension between ripeness and acidity. The fruit here is a bit redder in profile, leaning more toward raspberries than blackberries, while still being fully ripe. Full-bodied and supple, it finishes cedary, intense and long, adding in complex, lingering spice notes.
Anticipated maturity: 2021-2040
James Suckling 99
Wow. This is a bold, brassy shiraz that carries a wealth of very intense aromas of ripe blackberries, dark plums, licorice and sweetly spiced earth. Still so very youthful and primary. The palate is so powerful, so mouth-filling and so, so juicy. This manages to deliver such intensity and composure. Supple, long and deep-set tannins and heroically expressive fruit. Really impressive now, but this will deliver much more over the next two decades. One of the finest releases to date.
