Sod the 'message', this is an orgasm in a bottle! (Tim Adams 1998 Shiraz)

Member Name: moistoist

Product:	Tim Adams 1998 Shiraz
Date:	05/09/01 (155 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Everything

Disadvantages: You have to be joking...., it's perfect (although the Aberfeldy is bloody hard to get hold of!)

You do, very occasionally, have to credit multinational corporations with extreme common sense. Shocking? Well, in this case, no, because you can see that they were merely thinking of money in their grubby paws, but fortunately, the exercise in 'cashing in' has led to the availability of one of the most fantastically gorgeous mouthfuls of pure golden silk that ever came from a supermarket.

You see, about a year ago, Oz Clarke recommended a wine like he had no other - it was 'scrumptious...zings across your palate like a angel-sent bullet, it really is the most fabulous wine I have ever tasted for the price!'. Next day, surprise surprise, Tesco had sold out of said wine...mainly because most Tesco's have only one or two bottles of it. It hadn't been popular before because it was a little more expensive than other wines on offer and most people don't bother reaching for the top shelf of wine (sounds pornagraphic doesn't it? Well, I did say it was an orgasmic wine!)

The wine in question was the 1998 Shiraz by Tim Adams, an Australian winemaker hitherto unknown in this country. He is based in a tiny vineyard in the Clare Valley, which I had had the honour of visiting with a friend - and already knew how wonderful the wines were, when Oz Clarke managed to quadruple UK sales in two minutes on TV. The vineyard is set in this rolling area just east of the bigger Hunter Valley (where some heavenly buttery chardonnays originate from), which is surprisingly small - 30kms long and 15kms wide containing no less than 20 wineries(!) - it is hard to see how so much fine wine can come from such an area, but he is a master vigneron keen on keeping up certain practices (GM free for example, totally organic too) and is a massive conservationist as well. And to top it all, he's an incredibly nice guy who will happily welcome you in into his house and let you taste all the wines on offer. He and his wife (who is a great cook) do an op
en door cellar on some days with food and wine tasting included for about a tenner!

Now to the wine. Uncorking the minimalist and stylishly simply labelled bottle (real cork by the way, none of this plastic nonsense!), the nose of the wine hits you instantly. Now, a good Shiraz should almost have a mint like smell - very green, with a menthol aroma. You might be thinking 'bollocks! It hasn't got mint in it, he's just trying to look clever like that Jilly Goolden woman!'...if you were the sort of person who laughed at her (I was too!) then buy this wine and be amazed how you can actually pick out the flavours and smells like they do!
This wine smells perfect - it's gutsy and yet not outrageous, it pushes itself right to the limit (any more gutsy and it wouldn't be so great!) but it manages to be totally wonderful at the same time.

And then you drink it.

Orgasm describes it well - the flavour is an intensely fruity, dark, rich wine - the fruit is very much like ripe blackcurrents and mulberries, but with a certain spice that some describe as being rather like cloves, but I can't get that - just a warmth that is like drinking rum on a winter's night. I can't think of words enough to describe the flavour properly, it really is so fantastic and balanced and gorgeous and wonderful and delicious and hearty and bold and...
It goes brilliantly with roast beef. Enough said, drink it and you will be smitten, I promise...even the 8 quid asking price will seem utterly reasonable!

The wine has won several awards, most notably a gold award from the International Wine Festival and various other accolades. If you get the chance to visit, you will be able to try the 'God' of Shiraz - which is amazingly EVEN better than this wine - the 'Aberfeldy' Shiraz...it don't come cheap in the bottle though (it costs about 60 quid, yes, sixty, to get a bottle to the UK as no-one bothers to distrib
ute it over here.

To get hold of it, you need to pop to your local Tesco - and if it isn't on the shelf, just ask and they may well have some in stock - otherwise they will be happy to let you know when it's coming back. You can buy it online from a few places, but I have no experience of that yet - I will report back on the best sources! To get hold of the Aberfeldy, then get down to your local Thomas Cook, it ain't coming any other way!

Seriously though, if you like young wines, if you like any wine, and you want a wonderful drinking experience that will put you in a jolly good mood...then buy a bottle of this. It's the ultimate romantic's wine as well - it's potent (but not overly so) and utterly memorable... and within a short space of time you'll find that it has disappeared and you'll be yearning for another bottle...


Your tastebuds will love you for the rest of your life.

Summary: