Torzi Matthews 2002 Frost Dodger Shiraz Nov 04

Sealed in a Stelvin, the aroma was a little reductive so I left it in the glass for a few hours and it took every bit of that time for it to blow off but even then, it was tight and unyielding. What did show up was soft inviting fruit that seemed clean and the component in control of the secondary cedar oak characters. Tannins are smooth and fine grained but have some chewy underlying character so there is enough backbone to well and truly support the wines solid, ample-weight structure. The flavour profile is attractive, there is not a much sweetness; upfront plum and dark berry flavours, intense chocolate, a touch of spice, mocha and lingering clove to finish. A very nice, well built wine with some style, it is rated as Highly Recommended. If you intend to drink it soon, a significant decant time is recommended as it showed better after many hours of being open.

It is interesting to see how this wine has lost its puppy fat in the last twelve months; now is not the best time to be drinking it as it is probably in a hole. In comparison to the 2003 that I tried a couple of weeks ago, as good as this wine is, the 03 is a step up in structure, complexity and class. The 02 finally showed some similarity of flavour to the 03 which is a good sign as it shows there can be consistency between the wines under this label as time goes on.

Copyright © Ric Einstein 2004