Woodstock Pilots View Shiraz 2011

Woodstock Pilots View Shiraz 2011 (McLaren Vale, SA)
14%, Screwcap, $38
Source: Sample
www.woodstockwine.com.au

Producers, marketers, critics and the like can talk it up as much as they want, but ultimately 2011 was a bloody hard vintage in South Australia, particularly if you’re trying to make red wines. Wet, cool, wet and wet, the vintage netted many grapes that didn’t quite get ripe, or if they did they often produce wines that don’t show much in the way of ‘fruit’ flavours. Plenty of exceptions, yet plenty of wines that show the challenges all too well. Like this wine.

White pepper and ferns – it smells green, peppery driven and sappy, the plum fruit more of an echo than is normal for Woodstock. The palate too relies on oak and some residual sweetness (or concentrate for that matter) to inject some richness.

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Fair winemaking perhaps, but it ultimately results in a simple and concocted wine. Not quite.

Drink: 2013-2015
Score: 15/20 84/100
Would I buy it? No. The 2010 is well worth seeking out if you can find it though.