The 2014 vintage in the Hunter Valley has been hailed by all and sundry as one of the best in the last 50 years for red wine. You may yawn, as this is typical winemaker speak, but my sense, as I have tasted the first of these wines, is that this might in fact be true.
The ripening conditions were perfect, with a little rain early in the year, and no rain disruption during harvesting, as is so often the case in the Hunter Valley. The wines are likely to be bigger than usual, but with excellent structure.
Recently I tried the 2014 Silkman Reserve Shiraz. Silkman is a relatively new name, but the winemaking couple have a long history in the valley and access to excellent vineyards. They have now branched out on their own. This particular wine has an interesting flavour mix, with red cherry, raspberry and mulberry notes. The wine is substantial in weight, but quite vibrant. The texture is excellent. The fruit flavours are balanced with fine acidity and lingering tannins, which over time will develop the alluring velvety character of great Hunter Valley Shiraz, I think. This wine is well worth hunting down. The score I give below is for now, but may well go up over time.
Score: 94/+++
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2 comments:
Hello Thomas,
I visited HV over the Xmas /New Year period and tried to hunt down this wine down......no easy task even at the Small Winemakers Centre in Pokolbin.
I finally sourced 2 bottles last week ( as a consequence of a late November email I sent to a Melbourne retailer) .
Are you able to explain what makes this a "reserve" Shiraz ?
Thanks as always
Colin r
Okay so no reply to that post I shall try another!
For me this wine took 24 hrs b4 it started to develop some HV nuances that I am familiar with........HV earth in particular.
Interestingly, you have made minimal reference to the oak.
For me it's a little bulky that, and a little sadly hides the fruit on day 1 at least.
from the Xmas visit and subsequent tastings there appears to be an enormous variation in HV vineyards, perhaps the most I have personally experienced in any Oz region.
Unfortunately there is no info on their www to suggest the oak treatment, in fact minimal details about the nuts and bolts of their wine??
Thanks as always
Colin
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