Having
tasted a couple of wines from Frankland Estate, including various Rieslings and
their widely renowned and sometimes absolutely impressing Isolation
Ridge Shiraz, I simply had to lay my hands on another Shiraz. This time from
their more accessible, fruit driven and easy drinking range: Rocky Gully. The grapes for this
wine were cultivated all over Frankland River winegrowing area. A fantastically
isolated, rural and relatively cool climate area in the very south-west of Western
Australia (approx. 350 km south of Perth).
Its colour
seemed to be very typical. Very dark, red and not really a great amount of
particles. The nose got plenty of Christmas pastry, boiled plums, mild black
pepper, slight petrol, some wet earth and strangely enough South-East-Asian fish
market odour perceptions (plenty of dried fish). Nothing really to worry about.
This rather odd impression eased with the time and was never as revolting as it
may sound. Its taste was clearly more fruit driven and “New World’ish” as the
Isolation Ridge Shiraz. Compared to the IRS I got far more obvious Aussie
Shiraz warmth. But not exaggerated at all. The fruitiness was dominated by
plums plums plums. Slightly boiled plums maybe. Besides that I got flavours of
cherry pie, some Christmas feelings (again) and, most contenting, some very
fine and fresh acid. The alcohol was very well integrated, the fruit sweetness
not too intense, its concentration as well and the finish was somehow medium. The
tannins might have been a bit’y hard!?! No real problem about that! In
conclusion: Certainly not a complex or intellectually challenging wine. More adequate
for some uncomplicated easy drinking sessions with typical Aussie Shiraz
features. Whatever that might mean ;-)? So, maybe not the Best Western Shiraz, but a very decent one!
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