Torzi Matthews 2003 Frost Dodger Shiraz Nov 04 Nov 04

This wine lived up to its name when, in November, a black frost reduced the final crop to one ton per acre. Wild fermentation is used and there is no filtration nor fining. Recently bottled under Stelvin, when the wine was first opened it showed some sulpha over milk chocolate and plums; whilst it is fruit driven, there is a little French oak mushroom/coffee influence and there may have been a touch of Band-Aid too (which I suspect is oak derived.) As it opened up, the sulpha blew off and the rich, inviting pure fruit shone through, even for the bouquet you can tell the mouth feel will creamy and seductive. 

The palate has a sexy mouth feel and the the pure fruit delivers off-sweet plum, blackberry verging on prune, aniseed and tar seductively. Muscular in weight, the consistency is supple and the structure is rock solid but tight. A clean, polished well made wine with good balance and structure that can be consumed now, but that would be waste as it will only get better as it peaks around 2009+. Rated as Highly Recommended (now) with *** for value.

The wine will sell with a RRP of $45 and be available in the first week of December. Attendees at Wine Australia can taste it at the stand of "The Wine Partnership" which will also have the Kalleske wines.

Postscript – I recently tried the 2002 Frost Dodger Shiraz to compare the two vintages. There is no doubt, the 2003 is the better wine as there is a step up in structure, complexity and class.

Copyright © Ric Einstein 2003