2001 Oliver's Taranga Vineyard Shiraz

The Australian wine industry now has well over 1200 vineyards producing wine, and it is quite forgivable in you haven't heard of every one, but in this case, Oliver's is not a new comer, the family have been growing grapes in McLaren Vale since the 1840's. Today, the emphasis still remains on growing super premium quality grapes for other winemakers while only producing a small number of cases for sale under the Oliver's Taranga label. The Oliver's first arrived in McLaren Vale in 1841 and by 1843 were showing signs of prosperity. Statistics in the South Australian Almanac state that "he was William Oliver of Tea Tree Swamps and owned thirteen head of cattle." Shortly afterwards Oliver adopted the native name of Taranga for his property which subsequently gained a strong reputation for the quality of his beasts. Records show that William Oliver's first implements were a single furrow plough, wooden harrows and a scythe for hay cutting. Australia owes a great debt to these pioneering families who worked so hard to establish their farms. The Oliver family's big day out came on Sundays "when four bullocks were yoked to the wagon and the family proceeded across Long Gully, to the John Knox Free Scotch Church at Morphet Vale." After a few years most of the farmers established small vineyards and made wines for their own consumption, however, it is thought that "William Oliver was probably the first of the small makers in the Noarlunga or Seaview districts to make enough wine to sell on any scale." Today, William Oliver's legacy is nurtured by Don Oliver, who produces top quality fruit for a number of the countries top winemakers - in some vintages fruit from the old vines Shiraz goes into the world famous Grange Hermitage. Since 1994 Don Oliver has selected a small parcel of his very best fruit and produced an exceptional wine. The bad news is that production is only around 300 cases!

An outstanding wine from Don and Margie Oliver. The couple have been growing grapes of extraordinary quality which have been sourced for Penfolds Grange in the past. The 2001 wine was made by Corrina Rayment, 6th Generation Oliver family member, who continues to make formidable wine.

Made from a blend of 95% Shiraz and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon the wine was matured in a combination of 1/3 new American & French oak, 2/3 various age American & French oak for 18 months.Opaque black crimson colour. Superb nose of plum, spice, blackpepper and vanilla. The palate explodes with layers of flavour. Mouthfilling plum, spice, blackberry and blackpepper flavours are layered over dark chocolate and vanillin oak. Very fine tannins, perfectly balanced, with very long plum, blackpepper and blackberry aftertaste.
Cellar 5-8 years (2008-2011)
Alc/Vol: 14.5%

RATING: 97/100

VALUE: XXXXX/5