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2006 Gomersal Shiraz
94 points
Bright colour; vibrant red and blackberry fruit with a touch of spice and sage; plenty of volume, but with lively acidity and good focus on the finish; very good value.
2005 Gomersal Vintage Fortified Shiraz
GOLD
55.5 points (out of 60) equivalent to 92.5 points
Sweet leather, toffee. Peaty. Toasty. Balance is awesome. Rich, complex. Intense. Bright, lengthy. Anise.
2008 Gomersal Shiraz
SILVER
2005 Gomersal Shiraz
94 points
Rich, ripe and generous, with a clearly defined dark fruit and fruitcake spice; warm, thick and unctuous, but not heavy, and quite long. Good value.
2008 Gomersal Shiraz Rose
93+ points
Baz White spends most of his day telling people what to do whilst he glares at his Shiraz across dusty Gomersal Road from the winery’s ample verandah. This stare seems to keep the starlings, pardalotes, odiums and mildews at bay, and I think also frightens the grapes into ripening. It terrified this poor 2008 mob so thoroughly they’ve obviously started to bleed: for this smells slightly bloody, and like previous vintages actually reeks of blood orange. There’s the classic whiff of the dusty road, too. You can feel it caking up around the edge of your mouth, as if you’re perishing in the desert. But you’re not. You’re simply thirsty, and at 14.5% alcohol; this is not going to be quenching any thirst today. I reckon this would go perfectly with those slices of candied orange dipped in bitter dark chocolate.
2008 Gomersal Eden Valley Riesling
92 points
Another Germanic style of rizza, this beauty smells like a dry spaetlese, but it couldn’t have been picked late, given the heat wave blitz of 2008. It’s complex with banana and fresh, uncut clingstone peach surrounding the hard podsols and schist that lie at its heart. The texture’s fluffy and syrupy, but soon surrenders to a whiprod of dry stony acidity and phenolic tannins that feel a bit like licking a stone. All of which sounds unlikely for a nice drink, but that’s what the man says. Coming from such a difficult vintage, it’s very good traditional Riesling. Guzzle it all up.
2008 Gomersal Shiraz
95 points
Outstanding opaque, super saturated, black crimson red colour, with very deep black crimson hue. The nose displays lifted aromas of liquorice and blackberry followed by some confectionary and spice notes. Full bodied, the palate delivers very generous rich ripe flavours of blackberry, dark chocolate, liquorice and spice with some black pepper on the back palate. Velvet smooth tannins with a plush texture. Long aftertaste of ripe blackberry, liquorice, dark chocolate and black pepper. Drink over the next 2-3 years.
2007 Gomersal Eden Valley Riesling
91+++ points
The wine’s no wimp: it’s very forceful, almost stiff, at this infant stage. It’s elegant, in spite of its extreme concentration of pure Riesling, the result of growing only ½ ton of grapes from each acre. As it matures it will gradually develop more flesh and riper lime. Drink it bright and fresh this year, or wait three or four, until its youthfulness has softened.
2007 Gomersal Shiraz Rose
93 points
This is a big, strong wine, oozing with character and fulsome opulence. It is neither elegant no cleansing, but rather begs characterful, if simply flavoured foods, and should be regarded as closer to a slightly sweet claret with big alcohol than the dim sweet and sour rose which has crowded the shelves during the wine glut. Its big, squishy viscosity comes from alcohol as much as the sheer intensity of its fruit, which yielded barely 500 kilograms per acre. (Most of last year’s Australian rose would have been at least ten times that tonnage, meaning ten times more diluted) Put as simply, as the wine simply is, it’s the truest primary essence of low-yield, dry-grown, exquisite quality Barossa Shiraz.
2005 Gomersal Grenache Shiraz Mataro
93+++ points
This is Gomersal’s flagship red, showing off the fruits of Baz White’s heroic Mataro and Grenache bush vines to the max. These were planted six years ago in hard schist ground, and as if low yields weren’t low enough, Baz bunch-thins to concentrate what’s left. It’s the true spirit of the Barossa: an intense essence of the past and the future; proud, sullen, tannic and sobering in its potential to bust out of your cellar. All truth; no sophistry. Have it with Charles Villiers Stanford’s Blue Bird, Opus 119 No. 3, and some well-larded bambi.
2005 Gomersal Grenache Shiraz Mataro
93+++ points
Grenache and Mataro from tiny bush vines (on the stoniest southern slope of the Gomersal vineyard) has been blended with low-yield Shiraz from across the road from the winery to make this tough, feisty red. It’s extremely youthful and brash at this stage, with strapping textures, savoury, appetizing tannins, and sinuous acidity, but it’ll become a genuine Barossa classic if you can bear to leave it in the cellar for up to twenty-five years. This spicy old French oak took two years to impart this intensity, and it’s all in balance, increasing its potential to age. In the meantime, it’ll sing very sweetly with any of the suggested foods. It’s top wine, a hundred dollars cheaper than some of its more thick-headed rivals with heavier glass and stranger names, and it’ll last many years longer than most of them. Its acidity is benchmark.
2006 Gomersal Shiraz
98 points
The Gomersal vineyard is ‘lean’, forcing vines to struggle, resulting in yields of no more than 1.5 tonnes per acre. The little water that’s available means that ‘textbook’ vine stress management is near impossible, so small but concentrated berries are typical. The result is highly concentrated flavours. Very deep black crimson colour with crimson mauve hue. Superb nose – perfumed with violet top note, followed by dark chocolate and spice. Outstanding length and depth with flavours of blackberry, spice, vanilla and liquorice, which run well into the very long aftertaste with a very pronounced black pepper background. Fine grained perfectly balanced tannins with very long aftertaste. Baz – you beauty! Outstanding value!
2005 Gomersal Vintage Fortified Shiraz
93 points
Lord knows what you can’t smell in this wicked little hand grenade. Dark chocolate, black tea, chicory, the beginnings of leather. Low yield Shiraz, picked ripe, hit with the best fortifying spirit and bottles for instant gratification or the dungeon. It’s an absolute tease – rich, intense and strong. Adults only!!!
2005 Gomersal Shiraz
92 points
Intense and juicy, with a bouquet that jumps across the table. Under-priced juvenile is wholesome, perky and disarming. Over a faint morning hearth or slightly sooty oak there’s a heap of rich, fat fruit, supported by lovely dry medium-grained tannins. As the wines ever-so-gradually recedes, its firm acidity and tannin sets the salvatories gushing, driving the drinker over to tucker. And another glass. I am comfortable, however to suggest that stylistically, this wine is an evolution of the previous excellent Gomersal Shiraz releases, and an improvement. Not only has the winemaker kept the flavours of the vineyard true to style, but has forged a wine that is more grapy, mellow and supple, as much as rich.
2005 Gomersal Shiraz
98 points
Made in a fruit driven style with yields around two tones per acre, one third of the wine was matured in three to four year old French Oak for 12 months. Totally opaque black purple colour with black purple hue. Superb nose, delivering a perfumed lift of violets, spice and blackberry. The palate displays classic Barossa voluptuous flavour – big and joosy with blackberry and black pepper – mouthfilling. Fine grained tannins, excellent balance. Very long aftertaste of spice and black pepper. This is a wonderful new discovery from the Barossa and delivers great value for money. A superb Barossa Shiraz
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