There's a lot to be said for opening the right wine at the right time. The 1994 Chateau Reynella Basket Pressed Shiraz is rocking my world tonight (bottle #127310, to be precise).
Earthy, herbal, peppery, meaty and a little plummy, it deftly illustrates the term "savory" (or "savoury" in Oz) and limns the metaphysical differences between Syrah and Shiraz. This wine is in an ideal state of balance tonight, equal parts fruit, acid, and whatever passes for structure these days. The aromatics have that funky/dusty thing I usually get in old Brunello but on the palate it's pure McLaren Vale, comfortable in its own frame and bringing back memories of old school Aussie Shiraz. It's not as monumental as the 1986 Rockford Basket Pressed Shiraz I had earlier this year; that was consumed at Jose Andres' Bazaar with friends and amazing food while this one was enjoyed on a Wednesday night watching Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" by myself. While I believe that context has a tremendous impact on how we approach a wine, the Rockford 1986 was a great wine and this Reynella is merely the right wine at the right time, and it's tough to find fault with that, right?
I added this bottle ($20) to my collection back around 1998 when I was working for Kermit Lynch in Berkeley, CA. I would have to believe that, given its balance and adherence to a sense-of-place mentality, that it could have found a home for itself at that shop if Kermit was inclined to import wine from Australia. That's going to happen about the same time as he picks up Harlan Estate or Screaming Eagle for national distribution, but I'd like to think that this wine would meet his standards.
This is the sort of wine that keeps wine interesting to me. We often have a good idea as to how a given wine will evolve over the years, but we never really know what it's going to be like. In all honesty, I didn't have many expectations for this bottle, but my curiosity got the best of me. I've liked all of the wines I've had from the 1994 vintage thus far and this one has held up quite well. I don't know that it would improve much with more time, but neither does it feel as if it's going to be falling off the edge of the earth any time soon.
Comments