Penfolds Thomas Hyland Shiraz 2008 - $14

David: Dark purple, almost black in color. Nose of dark fruits, baking spices, earth and perfumy floral notes. Full bodied with moderate acidity. Good weight. Blueberry and plum fruit. Quite concentrated yet not overly fruity. Almost mellow. Acidity picks up a little on the end. Tannins not too dominant. Solid finish. Good with pasta and probably good with food in general. A gentler wine than the Wolf Blass we had last.
Score: 4.1/5

Arrowood Kuljian Dry Creek Syrah 2007 - $28

David: Dark purple in color. Nose of prune, root vegetables and a little violet and maybe chocolate. Full bodied, low acidity. Meaty texture. Some plum fruit but quite savory. Big tannins. The mid palate fruit gets taken over by liquorish and black pepper in the long and pleasant finish.
Score: 4.1/5

Kangarilla Road Shiraz 2006 - $15

David: Dark maroon in color. Sweet oak is the first thing you notice on the nose. Dark fruit, and some hard to define spices, maybe dill and a touch of menthol. Full bodied and sweet but with powerful acidity which races off overpowering the sweetness. Red cherry, blackberry and grape juice loops through cycles of lip-smacking tartness. Silky tannins add more structure. Kind of interesting at first but the overpowering oak nose gets a bit tiring.
Score: 3.8/5

Black Swan Shiraz 2008 - $7

David: Color reddish purple. Nose of black cherry, vanilla oak flavors. Good acidity. Good cherry and plum fruit. Pleasant finish. This wine will be a solid competitor to Yellow Tail in the cheap supermarket shiraz category. Not extraordinary by any means but not too shabby either. A good pizza wine for the money.
Score: 3.7/5