Summerfield 2003 Reserve Shiraz April 05

I first tried this wine at Wine Australia last year, and whilst it was okay, it didn't seem that impressive. It's amazing what a few months difference can make for a young wine. When the wine was being poured, it certainly was freshly exuberant and initially showed clove, pepper, plum potting mix, aniseed and green tea. After an hour or so in the glass, it lost its exuberance and became a brooding child. The wine has an impressively silky mouth feel which certainly makes it attractive. Lengthy and persistence of finish is good too. The bouquet is replicated on the palate but the flavouring from the French oak is very high and overshadows the fruit flavours. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value; it will be best drunk sooner rather than later as I doubt there is sufficient fruit to manage the oak in the long term.