Picardy Shiraz 1998 supplied by friend, this wine was under cork as all Picardy Wines are and is only the second vintage of Shiraz from Picardy, the first vintage being 1997. The age of this wine had us all thinking, will it still be drinkable let alone fresh, so in we went with the bottle opener and there was no sign of cork damage or taint, it smelled fine, there was a hard to place aroma that reminded me of chemistry classroom all those years ago, different but not off putting. In the glass the wine truly sparkled ruby red and blind, we would not have guessed its age, the palate took a while to settle down (maybe something to do with that initial aroma) and showed soft red berries wrapped in fine gentle tannins with a lovely long finish.

Read James Hallidays review a few days afterwards.
“Youthful purple-red; a huge oak impact obliterates the bouquet and much of the palate. It is hard to see how the wine can come back into balance.” Well the fruit did indeed make its way out from behind all that oak and the oak has softened to round the wine out, well done Dan and the team at Picardy. www.picardy.com.au This wine was drunk after dinner sitting out in the back courtyard on a hot balmy night accompanied by a good cuban cigar (Partagas D4) a great way to finish an enjoyable night.