2004 Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz

UK wine writer Matthew Jukes recently went into raptures about the 2004 Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz describing it as a “life changing experience in every respect” and in the process scored it 20/20. Whilst we won’t quite go that far we do have to agree with him that it’s an excellent example of Stonewell Shiraz.

The fruit for the 2004 Stonewell was sourced from low yielding mature vineyards located in the Barossa Valley districts of Kabiningie, Greenock, Vine Vale and Nuriootpa. The wine was matured in a combination of 90% French and 10% American oak hogsheads for approximately 18 months.

An excellent Stonewell, far superior to the disappointing 2003.

Outstanding colour – holding up exceptionally well. Opaque purple black colour with deep purple mauve hue. The nose displays a complex array of aromatics – blackberry, dark plum, confectionary, vanilla, mocha and liquorice all sorts. Full bodied palate, without being bulky, displaying flavours of dark plum, dark chocolate, liquorice, confectionary and blackberry followed by some blackpepper notes. Fine grained firmish dry tannins, but in balance, provide the wine with excellent structure for further cellaring. Very long aftertaste of blackberry, dark plum, liquorice, confectionary and cedar.
Cellar 5-6 years (2014-2015)
Alc/Vol: 14.5%

Other Reviews…..
The 2004 Stonewell shiraz yields only to the 2002 and 1998 vintages in quality and is on par with the ’96. It was released in December and, while I have no quibble with the 2010-24 drinking span predicted by Lehmann, it would be no sin to open a bottle for a test drive this year. It is, after all, five years old. Strongly coloured, with some crimson notes remaining, it is medium to full bodied, with an excellent mid-to-back palate line to black fruits, leading to a strikingly long finish and aftertaste, the balance and structure all one could wish for.
95 points
James Halliday – The Weekend Australian.