Tasting Note

                 Sydney Time

           Copyright © Ric Einstein 2008

Torbreck 2002 The Struie Jan 06

After the very disappointing showing of this wine during the Great 2002 Shiraz Taste Off, I decided to open a bottle from my cellar to see if the wine did have Brett, or if the one we tried at the event was just a one-off bad bottle.

Bouquet shows very earthy characters with abundant coffee vanillin oak and dark chocolate over just as dark fruit. Fruit is deeply-seated but the finish is very dry and the acid comes across as a touch steely. Black fruit flavours with olive, coffee essence, a touch of menthol and earthy mushroom characters are enjoyable and finish with good persistence, but the wine is not as harmonious as it was on release and has changed a huge amount since I first tried it almost two years ago.

Does the wine have Brett in it? Quite possibly! Brett levels do vary from bottle to bottle and this bottle did show a steely edge that I often find in Brett affected wines. It is also important to remember that heat is the bitter enemy of Brett and can make it bloom very quickly. The bottle sent by Brian to Rutherglen for the tasting, would have experienced hot weather during transport for a couple of days.