Stephen John 1998 Reserve Shiraz Sept 04

The bouquet is earthy mushroom compost and a slight pooy nappy effect with subtle mint and blackberry underpinning the profile. Perfectly ripe fruit presents an interesting palate of contrasting, mainly off sweet with some sweet aspects showing plum, blackberry, mint and menthol that finishes with respectability. Just about hitting ample weight, the tannins are smooth and have fully resolved but have sufficient grip to hold the wine together so it is smooooooth and finishes dry with a good clean acid finish. A stylish drop, it is rated as Excellent and is at its peak.