Tasting Note

                 Sydney Time

           Copyright © Ric Einstein 2009

Torbreck 2004 The Struie Feb 06

The wine was examined over a 36 hour period. Earthy notes and spice; lots of them including nutmeg, cinnamon, white pepper with floral hints, chocolate, blueberry, and plum aromas were all found as the wine opened. After many hours, other nuances emerged including lots of coffee and mushroom which dominated for a short period of time but with more time, some of the earlier aromas re-emerged. Excellent complexity!

The first thing the palate notices is the freshness of the zingy acid. The fruit is pure and the tannins ultra-fine and tightly grained. The wine finishes very dry and the fruit is slightly buried under tannins, but it’s fighting to punch its way through. This is not as silky as some other Torbreck wines but it was very tight, even after eight hours of decanting. Palate flavour pretty much follows the nose. The wine is reasonably restrained, and although it started off as ample weight, as it opened up it seemed to put on weight. There is a delightful interplay between off-sweet and some savoury sensations. After 12 hours it really started to show its stuff and the stuff was good. However I have one concern about this wine; from start to finish there was a slight metallic edge noticeable to the acid. Possibly this is a function of the wines youth and if it dissipates in time the wine will be simply gorgeous, but if it is not, it could signal a problem. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value now, with room for improvement, but it will either go to excellent or could be a problem.