Bob McDonald

9.5

Great to try a 10 year old Sami-Odi. The ripe fruit quality from very old vines is so rich, luscious and alluring there doesn’t seem to be any point in keeping these wines for 15 to 20 years until they develop savoury characters. Colour is dense, dark and impenetrable. Plummy notes on the palate with a little chocolate (see previous Delectable note). Trademark silky tannins. Back Story on the Vineyard: Dallwitz Old is the Hoffmann vineyard’s oldest and most highly prized block - sown by Oscar Falland between 1888 and 1912 on land that at the time belonged to the Dallwitz family. The 2.12 hectares are farmed solely by the Hoffmann family and have been tenderly cared for each season since they began share farming it for the Dallwitz’s in the 1920’s (the Hoffmann’s later acquired it in the 1940s). 3074 bottles were filled. Unusually for the top Cuvée from Sami-Odi this one comes from a single vintage in 2013. — a month ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Mahe and Ribo celebrating the birth of twin boys for Fraser and his wife Andrea. This is a sumptuous wine. Initially a barnyard note on opening which blew off. On the palate lush, soft and silky - the product of old Shiraz vines. Blackberry and blue fruits with a dried meat charcuterie note and a hint of coffee grounds on the medium bodied palate. Medium plus palate intensity but it’s the trademark silkiness that wins you over. Soft persistent tannins. Followers of Sami Odi know that their premium wine every year is often a blend of several vintages but this one was just the 2015 vintage because the fruit was so good. — 8 months ago

Natasha Phillips

10

Had at Wally’s with Sami and Jess delish — a year ago

Shay A

9.5

Broken record, I know, but there is no wine on this planet that smells as good as these (IMO). I feel like one of those old-school cartoons where the aromas lift you off the ground and bring you in. Fraser is a wizard.

Decanted two hours before consumption. 2020 (51%), 2019 (31%), 2018 (3%), 2017 (8%), 2016 (5%) & 2015 (2%).

As expected, the aromatics are like fireworks going off…they are bright, enthralling, sensory overload. Dark floral bouquet, boysenberry, sweet cassis, sandalwood. Purple in the glass and as you expect a monster to hit your palate, it’s fairly elegant but extremely layered. Gorgeously fresh. These always have a weightless depth and gravitas to them, similar to what I find in Scarecrow. Mesmerizing notes of dark cocoa, dark plum, freshly squeezed blue and black fruits, hint of candied bacon, and a flair of herbal spice. Finish is lengthy, juicy, delicious.

I’ve been fortunate to have quite a bit SamiOdi, and this undoubtedly is the best LittleWine I’ve had. I probably underscored this. 95+ — a month ago

Andrew McIntyre

9.4

This reminded me personally of a St. Joseph but with everything turned up to 11! Dark fruits with hints of baking spice. I found this hit its stride somewhere between 3 and 4 hours after opening.
Looking forward to trying other wines from this producer.
Paired well with slow cooked short ribs and amazingly well with the dark chocolate afterwards. — 7 months ago

Alex Lallos

Owner No Limit Fine Wines, Private Wine Consultant

9.9

Phenomenal. Wtf! I honestly can’t imagine how I’ve gone so long in my wine journey without trying this. It was great when we opened it but wow on day two it is incredible. The texture is unbelievable. The nose is absolutely crazy, almost Jamet or dollium Côte rotie like. Brambly and high toned blue fruits, almost a medicinal quality like chartreuse. Hard to find and needs to be tasted. Score updates on day two — 8 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Nothing to add to my previous note of May 11, 2019 nearly 3 years ago. I must admit I don’t see a lot of savoury development with time in cellar. They are delicious when you first open them and 3 years later, much the same with that solid core of old vine fruit and silky tannins still dominating proceedings. — 2 years ago

Andrew McIntyre

9.4

Loved this wine and enjoyed it more than the "little wine." Levels of complexity with fruits and baking spices. Bit of smoke at the beginning and this kept changing over the course of drinking. Impressive showing! — 4 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

Dense purple/black in the glass - opaque. Not giving much on the nose initially following decanting. Needed vigorous swirling. Barossa plum, prune and earth. Very full bodied on the palate. Quite concentrated. A very big wine in comparison to many other Sami-Odi Cuvées I’ve had over the years. HH said It needs ages (“drinking window of 2018 to 2041 - over extracted?)” I tend to think the difficult vintage conditions in 2014 as explained by Fraser is the reason. Harvest was a full 2 months later than normal - harvesting the 2nd shooting of the vines during the first 2 weeks of April. Yielding only 274 dozen. This wine has a long cellaring future. An element of tannic astringency which is more a result of the size of the wine. This is the first of 3 bottles I purchased in 2016. It will be many years before I have the next one. — 5 months ago

Shay A

9.4

@Delectable Wine : This is the Little Wine #9, but I didn’t see it in the database.

94 now, 96+ in a few years. I honestly try to keep my hands off the LW as long as I can, but they are sinfully good young, so I struggle to keep them unopened. This was a fun bottle to open for the Super Bowl. Followed out of the bottle over the course of 2-3hrs.

The bulk of this wine is from the 2019 and 2018 vintage, with splashes of 2017, 2016 and 2015. Whereas the single vintage HD is more brawn (and sometimes savory), this is an aromatic high toned candle…fills the room! Scents of sweet licorice, potpourri, baked dark fruits, vanilla, jam. Seems a touch carbonic-like, but the palate is an absolute powerhouse. Kiss of mint but mostly fresh squeezed blackberries, blueberries, espresso, cocoa, and a charcoal/pepper bite at the very lengthy finish. Grippy and tannic, but the aromatics and zippy mid-palate make this a lot of fun to open today. If you can give it some air, pop and go.

I’ve yet to find a wine that makes me want a candle as much as these wines do! — 10 months ago