1995 Orlando Centenary Hill Shiraz

Orlando has left no stone unturned in order to produce their flagship Shiraz and the result speaks for itself – this is a stunning Barossa Shiraz.
The wine was produced from old Barossa Valley vines yielding as low as 1.4 tonnes per hectare. During regular vineyard inspections and assessment by winemakers, only two Barossa vineyards were considered to possess the exceptional vine balance and flavour development required for Centenary Hill. These vineyards were continuously monitored to ensure that harvest took place at flavour, style and ripeness profile selected by the winemaker.
Fruit from the two vineyards was fermented separately after de-stemming and crushing to wide based static fermenters. The musts were inoculated with neutral yeast cultures, then fermented at moderate temperatures (20-22ºC), with peaks of higher temperatures early during the fermentation. To enhance complexity one parcel of fruit received extended maceration on skins to extract greater colour, flavour and tannins. The other fruit parcel was drained and pressed, after eight days, into new oak to complete fermentation, providing greater oak integration and enhanced aroma.
The wine has been matured in selected new American oak hogsheads with tight grain that has been seasoned for a minimum of 24 months. After 20 months maturation in oak each individual barrel was tasted prior to blending and any not up to an exacting standard were culled. The wine then had an additional 36 months bottle maturation before release.

THIS WINE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S GREAT SHIRAZ, WITH THE YET TO BE RELEASED 1996 VINTAGE, ALSO VERY HIGHLY RATED.

Tasting Notes: An exceptional red – just a wonderful sniffing experience, and if one was to content oneself to sniffing alone, then this wine would be the one for the nose! Very deep crimson colour, with opaque black crimson centre. Magnificent nose, perfumed with strong aroma of blackcurrant and plum with vanilla and violets dominating. Mouth filling palate, showing complexity and ageing very well. Flavours of cedar, blackcurrant, fresh liquorice and spice. Magnificent length and depth. Velvet smooth tannins, with exceptionally long aftertaste of fresh liquorice, cedar, plum and spice. Cellar 4-5 years. An outstanding Shiraz. Stocks are very limited.

RATING: 99/100

VALUE: XXXXX/5