Bella's Garden Barossa Valley Shiraz

January Wednesday Wine Committees are always a great as the red wines are required to be 11yrs old, making all of the reds 2008 vintage. 1 sparkler, 2 whites, 4 reds and 1 dessert wine were served today, all blind.

This was my contribution. I didn’t know which order it would be placed in but as soon as I smelled it, I knew this was mine. Not much menthol/eucalyptus, but there is still a touch of mint on the nose. Overripe and baked dark fruit pie washes across the palate with roasted plum. Age has been kind to this and mellowed out the heat as well as the fruit...there is some sandalwood, underbrush and pipe tobacco that separate this from Mollydooker style Shiraz (which I enjoy every so often).

Black plum and or fig jam. Big. Thick. Pencil. Third act is surprisingly bright.

2008. Pretty sure this will be the last wine we pull off the shelf tonight (🤷‍♂️). I think we drank them in the right order so that the current wine wasn’t overshadowed by the previous one.

Very nice nose and fantastic complexity and finish. 16 years old even.

Dark fruits, cocoa and liqueur; medium sediment; last bottle and each had it’s own rewards

08, dark inky with loads of fruit and anise. We'll balanced and concentrated. Love, love, love this wine. 95points!

Was such an amazing pairing to intensify the spicy (which I liked, others did not), authentic Mexican cuisine at the Ryan's Christmas Party 2015!

Incredibly overwhelming tannins. Not as much fruit as I would have liked to see.

Big, fat and very tasty.

Massive....