"A MEGALITH WAITING TO UNFOLD."
The 2004 Tatiarra Heathcote Shiraz Collection will take you beyond any Shiraz experience you have ever had before. Recently "GARAGISTE" (based in Seattle, U.S.A. and one of America's most reputable wine merchants) tasted the wines and were plunged into a sensory tour-de force, re-surfacing with reports so graphic, so potent, that there is little we can add. Put simply: "This is why you drink wine."
This abridged version of Garagiste's full report begins with the 2004 Tatiarra Cambrian Shiraz:
"...if you are a Clos Rougeard meets Lagrein meets Hermitage meets 1955 La Mission Haut Brion sort of person then this is for you...This is a painful experience of acid, complexity, cherry rock and masculine traits that will push aside the uninitiated back to their gentler South Australian experiments. A megalith waiting to unfold...One of the very best wines produced in 2004 anywhere in Australia...For the money the Cambrian has to be one of the most complex and complete wines made in Australia today. THE HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION."
If the stunning 2004 Cambrian Shiraz could be bettered, only one wine could do it, the 2004 Tatiarra Caravan of Dreams Shiraz Pressings:
"...the very best wine of the vintage going beyond the critically swooned over 2003 Pressings. I'm not sure how they could accomplish this...Chiseled, liquefied rock and earth meshed with just the slightest suggestion of heavy cream and a tannic structure that would take Godzilla several films to break through, the 2004 is a mighty wine of earth and fruit with an impossibly complicated, wound up and layered personality that is truly one of a kind in Australia. This is as close as it gets to an old-style Grange character (think 1962 or 1971) while remaining clean, fresh and impenetrable. If you purchase this wine it will be very disappointing if opened today - it will illicit more than a few "who cares?" remarks and evil glairs from your guests. This is all about the ageing potential - if you buy Grange (at four times the price) and you don't buy this then I'm not sure what to say. THE VERY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION."
After surfacing for air, the tasting panel were then confronted with a wine that stretched their conceptions of the variety to new horizons, the 2004 Tatiarra Trademark Shiraz:
"It is one of the very best (if not the very best) wines of 2004...The devilish amalgam of sultry Footprint with the iron fisted Pressings has produced a "wow" of a beverage that somehow bridges the off-putting nature of the regular Tatiarra wines and softens it with the 2004 McLaren Vale fruit. This is akin to your young Latour being softened with Le Pin - a compelling combination of style, substance, mouthfeel and incredible length and breed this wine has left so many tastes in Australia speechless that I'm not really sure what to write anymore. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED".
The 2004 Tatiarra collection is an utter triumph for Tatiarra's 'dream team' (viticulturists, Ian Rathjen & Bob Wilson together with winemakers Ben Riggs & Peter Flewellyn). Their triumph is only over-shadowed by the loss of Tatiarra co-founder and C.F.O., Bill Spring, who passed away in September. These wines are dedicated to the vision he shared with Nick Chlebnikowski: to produce the world's finest expressions of Shiraz. With the release of the 2004 Tatiarra Collection, that vision is now reality.
A Heathcote powerhouse which engulfs all the senses with a tornado like force.
The colour is a complete saturate of black purple - a common feature of the entire collection and indicative of the intense flavour profiles that follow. Roll the wine around in the glass and the walls become instantly stained with a deep purple hue that just clings. The nose is perfumed and powerful, with violet top notes, followed by spice, black cherries, concentrated blackberries and cedar. The palate is a total explosion - vinous G forces hit every corner of the mouth, with intense layers of spice, blackberry and black pepper, overlaid with cedar and plum. The tannins are evident, but almost unperceivable, given the intensity of the fruit. The balance is perfect and the oral explosion continues well into the aftertaste. An extraordinary wine.
Cellar: 20 years (2025+)
Alc/Vol: 15.5% Other reviews...
The 2004 Shiraz Cambrian exhibits a distinctive terroir/earthy/fresh mushroom/truffle-like component intermixed with graphite, camphor, blueberry, blackberry, and cassis. A wine of great intensity, structure, muscle, and firm tannin, this impressive effort should be at its finest between 2009-2025+.
93 points.
Robert Parker
Wine Advocate #168 (Dec 2006)
 Click here to read more about the Heathcote wine region.
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