I recently tried three of the six bottles I received from my Grateful Palate grab bag, which was a recent birthday gift from my sister. All six are from Australia -- the grab bag costs USD30.
The first bottle I had was a 1998 Geoff Weaver Lenswood Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot (South Australia). It was kind of odd. It was certainly not a wine for cellaring. Decent fruit, nothing rich or lasting, nothing special about the tannins. I didn't notice much complexity. Sorry I can't give many specifics -- there just wasn't much notable about it. It was better than the typic USD8 bottle but nothing special. It was a bit of of balance but didn't seem to matter. My wife didn't like it all.
The second bottle was a 2000 Quartetto Clare Valley Sangiovese. This wine was more interesting but I am so partial to Italian sangiovese that I can't really give it a fair shake. I'm not into California sangioveses either. I guess it had more in common with "real" sangiovese than most of the California versions I've tried. Again, this wasn't very special. I suppose it was an interesting comparison, though. It was a basic, fairly light-bodied red wine with little compexity and nothing really notable.
The third bottle was a 1998 Thalgara Shiraz Show Reserve (Hunter Valley). Now this was something special. It was a medium to full bodied red with wonderful richness and complexity. I'm not good at identifying specific notes but there were lots of complex and different aromas and tastes. It had a rich and silky fruit texture that was not overpowering at all. The fruit and tannins were well integrated and had a strong finish which slowly faded from my mouth. The sediment left aftet finishing the last glass was extremely fine. I just kept sticking my nose into the glass after the last sip to remember that aroma. This was a wonderful bottle of wine and I hope I can find some more. It seemed like it would last longer but it was so good I wouldn't wait if I had more. I served this wine with a marinated, grilled kobe beef shish kabob. It was a great meal.
I have three more bottles remaining from my grab bag (two of which are the same) . I'll post notes after I drink 'em.
Rob Adelson