Clos Clare Shiraz Good work

Clos Clare Cemetery Block Shiraz 2008 (Clare Valley, SA)
14.5%, Screwcap, $27
Source: Sample
www.closclare.com.au

They have a magical touch the young Barry boys, producing Clare Valley wines under this label that at times manage to even outshine the more illustrious family label (which bodes well for the future of Jim Barry wines at the least). With this wine they’ve obviously used more than a little bit of the magic to craft something good from a loveless, heatwave vintage.
Unsurprisingly it’s a generous and warm wine then – sweet and chocolaty on the nose, carrying some of that typical Clare Valley mintiness mingling with rather sexy, choc vanilla milkshake oak. That oak sweetness is a viable foil here for the hot, rum ‘n’ raisin, scorched plum fruit vintage fruit characters, giving back some generosity in the process that looks to have been cooked off.

The palate is even better, fresher and richer, the fruit flavours slightly compressed and raisined, but still with that choc mint richness to carry things off. It finishes rather warm and the alcohol lingers through the finish but I still came away thinking that this looked very solid, regional and representative. Kudos to the craftmanship on show here. 17.4/90