Scarpantoni Estate – Estate Reserve (Shiraz/Cabernet) 1999
Dark red berries on the nose, black currant (cassis) is there too along with smoky tannins overlaid on a subtle sweet/pepper mint (mentholy) which is just intoxicating along with hints of freshly cracked black pepper. Buried somewhere in this nose is a little liquorice or molasses. Oh what a nose job this wine has – something new every time you take a whiff.
A tad of the oak monster on the initial palate, however this quickly heads off to the land of fruit and chocolate, giving way on the palate slowly to more astringent flavours that I associate with a just matured granny smith when you first bite into it. On the end there is a dusty dryness, however the mouthfeel does not hang along as much as I’d like.
A nice drop.