2002 Connor Park Shiraz nice effort on this Bendigo Shiraz out of Victoria, Australia
Tasting
Notes
1/20/06
We were very impressed with this Shiraz out of the Bendigo area of central Victoria as it showed different characteristics than many Shiraz from that region. This displays more lift and brightness to the fruit than many in the area and more importantly it still is packed with intense fruit flavors and concentration. We have felt, and with plenty of justification, that the Bendigo region and environs are producing some of the finest red wines we have tried out of Australia. The 2002 vintage was a great one with a long and cool growing season, where the grapes were harvested in almost perfect condition, alcohol and physiological ripeness being in balance, creating a wine of extraordinary richness yet with ripe tannins a beautiful acid structure.
This does a deft balancing act between bright red fruit and denser black fruit, cut with a touch of graphite, loam, herb and a faint note of black pepper running up through the nose on the aromatics. The palate is layered with gobs of dark raspberry, black cherry and plum fruit with a brightness that is shaped by the acidity that helps drive the fruit through the palate. Quite vibrant this has medium-fuller weight and finer grained tannins with a flavor intensity that shows why Australia has such a hold on this varietal.
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