Print this Wine         1996 Bannockburn Shiraz   GEELONG                 January Release   Shiraz       Gary Farr has for many years been regarded as Australia’s great Burgundy variety producer with both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir regularly acclaimed as the finest in the country. With the 1992 vintage Gary made a significant change in the way he makes his Shiraz, and with the success of each successive vintage his Shiraz is also regarded in the same lofty heights. The wine is a deep dark black/red with a purple blush. This indicates intensity and very much a fruit driven wine, as a heavily oaked wine would have lost the purple and lacked a little bit in the intensity department. These suspicions are immediately confirmed with the bouquet. Full on sweet raspberries, plums and dark cherries. Hard to see any oak in this fruit salad, and if it was there it would be entirely superfluous. The palate is more fruit and it swirls around the mouth and actually builds in flavor. It is quite dense and there is a hint for the first time of flavors other than fruit which has not been apparent until now. This is simply because the fruit was so overpowering. Here there are some meaty, bacon like flavors creeping into the mix. These will develop and build over the next few years. The tannin level is soft and quite gentle at the finish although there is plentiful acid which will provide this wine with some aging potential. The wine can certainly be enjoyed right now. I do not think that it will necessarily benefit by extended aging in a cellar. You would certainly lose that wonderfully intense fruit explosion, and as this is a relatively rare commodity I would advocate drinking the wine as soon as possible. Serve the wine with very juicy and tender steaks that have been char broiled and served with a spicy sauce. The wine has enough sweet fruit to make it a superb counterfoil for spicy foods.

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