The Half Century Celebration,Syrahs and Shirazes of the World.
With anticipation. We gathered at Cliff's for our wine tasting. A crib sheet was given to all so we'd know what we were drinking.( I'm sure crib sheet isn't wine speak) What to look for color ,nose, and flavors. We started with 1999 Wild Duck Creek Shiraz from Australia. A 15.3% juicy fruit bomb.Very Tasty. Next we went with a 2001 Epiphany Syrah Starline Vineyard,CA. Rich full bodied with hints of barbeque sauce,chocolate, espresso raost and licorice. My beer palate couldn't discern all this. Next up was 1990 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalbert. Northern France. HUGE smoky nose and flavor. I'm not a big fan of smoke. Then a Martinelli Syrah Zio Tony Ranch, CA. Full bodied with hints of bacon fat, camphor and graphite. Tasty. With some prodoong we opened the 2004 Thorn-Clarke Shiraz Shotfire Ridge, Australia.. White chocolate,blackberries, cassis, smoke and licorice. A total hedonistic turn on. We all nibbled on tenderloin sandwiches,cheeses,veggies and spanakopitas. A dessert wine was opened to compliment the cheesecake and chocolate chips cookies. 2004 Marquis Phillips Shiraz,Australia. Henk commented it smells "Antiseptic" Cliff's reply was "Septic" and over the rail it went. Our host set the standard. Each of us had a favorite and good time. Thanks Cliff.