Kilikanoon M Reserve Shiraz 2005
Colour: Dark purple core, light purple rim.
Nose: Herbal/dried medicinal herbs note, light white pepper, meat, minty, dark berries, tobacco. The notes are integrated which makes it harder to pick out.
Palate: Dry, medium-full bodied, medium+ acidity, medium soft tannins. Dark berries (again integrated), pepper, raspberry, touch of faint vanilla, light oak.
Finish: Medium+ finish, liquorice, oak.
Score: 82/100
Rather different from my expectation, only had handful of older Australian Shiraz before.
The Kilikanoon M Reserve Shiraz greets you with a whiff of herbal note, which I have yet to figure out what it is yet. The pepper is more tamed than I would expect, guess the age brought it down, followed by a harmony of aroma, meat, mint, dark fruits, and tobacco. All well integrated.
Velvet on the entry, the tannins are soften up. The integrated berries are back again, followed by raspberry, pepper, vanilla, and touch of oak. The acidity balances out the fruit very well. Followed by a decent length finish, with a kick of liquorice and oak in the back.
So far so good, on paper at least. There is something about this wine that I just don’t seem to enjoy. In theory, the notes all sound good, but just something I can’t quite put my finger on when I drink it, and the wine as a whole, makes me not like it as much as I thought it would. You can tell the quality of the wine, it’s good, given I was going in without any expectation in a somewhat blind tasting. I would recommend this to those who wants to try, and encourage if you own a bottle. Just because I am not a fan doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it more than I do. Drink up!