Geoff Merrill Reserve Shiraz McLaren Vale

“Approx. 14 months after vintage, Geoff and Scott undergo a blind tasting to select the finest barrels from our McLaren Vale vineyards that make the grade for our Reserve Shiraz. These barrels are blended together in tank then returned to a variety of new and seasoned American and French oak hogsheads for additional maturation prior to bottling.” - Geoff Merrill

Colour
The colour is a dense, dark brick red with garnet hues.
Aroma
The aroma is a postcard from McLaren Vale Shiraz. Attractive and ambrosial, this wine is simply begging to be tasted. It is filled with complex secondary notes of earth, savory meats and game, clove, herbs, and ripe primary redcurrant and blackberry.
Palate
The palate is very well structured with defined, grippy, firm yet fine tannins. It is tensioned together by perfectly balanced acidity forming a youthful, well-proportioned wine destined for a long evolution.
Food Pairing
Enjoy with mushroom risotto, lamb shanks, veal parmigiana, and shepherd's pie.

Wine Reviews:

95 points - Sam Kim (Wine Orbit)

“This is totally delicious; showing dark fruit richness with cocoa, spicy oak, charcuterie, and cake spice aromas on the nose, followed by a sumptuous palate that's velvety and lingering. It's plush and opulent, while splendidly balanced and structured by fine tannins, offering fabulous drinking. 5 stars.”

94 points - Huon Hooke (The Real Review)

“Deep, dark, brooding red colour with good purple tints; youthful for its years. The bouquet is intense and bright, loaded with toast, spice, mint, and coconutty oak aromas, plus some smoked-meaty overtones from bottle-aging. Dark chocolate, too. It's powerful, concentrated, deep, and penetrating, with noticeable acidity and liberal oak. The oak has been generously applied and is now starting to mellow happily into the wine.”