2005 Kaesler Shiraz Old Bastard
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Tasting notes
This is ultra-ripe (16.5% abv) and has slightly stewed-fruit character, as well as dried-blackcurrant aromas. The palate has an essence-like feel and blazes hot on the finish. Disparate and an anomaly in the scheme of this wine. Drink up.
Critic scores
Jay S Miller, Wine Advocate
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
As good as the preceding wines may be, they pale in the shadow of the 2005 Shiraz “Old Bastard,” sourced from a 114-year-old vineyard, and which spent 22 months in new and one-year-old French oak. It presents a superb perfume of cedar, violets, lavender, smoked meat, game, black raspberry, and blueberry. This leads to a voluptuous, velvety-textured, layered, super concentrated Shiraz in perfect balance with well-concealed tannins and a 60-second, pure finish. Give it 6-8 years and drink it through 2035. The Kaesler family, of Silesian origin, emigrated to the Barossa in the 1840s. The winemaking is in the hands of Reid Bosward and Stephen Dew. Importer: Ben Hammerschlag, Epicurean Wines, Seattle, WA; www.kaesler.com.au; Also tasted: 2007 Semillon “Old Vine” (84)
As good as the preceding wines may be, they pale in the shadow of the 2005 Shiraz “Old Bastard,” sourced from a 114-year-old vineyard, and which spent 22 months in new and one-year-old French oak. It presents a superb perfume of cedar, violets, lavender, smoked meat, game, black raspberry, and blueberry. This leads to a voluptuous, velvety-textured, layered, super concentrated Shiraz in perfect balance with well-concealed tannins and a 60-second, pure finish. Give it 6-8 years and drink it through 2035. ||The Kaesler family, of Silesian origin, emigrated to the Barossa in the 1840s. The winemaking is in the hands of Reid Bosward and Stephen Dew. Wine Advocate.October, 2007