Best not to have too many Australian 2000 and 2001 warm climate reds in your collection if you’re interested in long term cellaring. This point was made as clear as ever before just a few moments ago while tasting a couple of sought-after South Australian reds from these vintages. Released with much pomp and ceremony, the Reynell Basket Press Shiraz 2000 (a Hardy Wine Company label) is a very good wine from its vintage, although I expect it was looking a little more vibrant and a lot less simple when it collected the last of its swag of trophies. While I’m not suggesting this was the case here, buyers should beware that many wines to have won dozens of awards are often only released to the market well and truly after their winning streak is over. Sweet, fragrant and very approachable, I’d be drinking it sooner than later, well before uncorking the previous releases of this label made from less extreme vintages. Torbreck’s 2001 The Factor is a super-ripe Barossa shiraz that avoids the extreme alcoholic strengths of a number of its contemporaries. It’s deeply and powerfully flavoured, with excellent palate length, but like many other reds from this vintage is unable to avoid the high levels of stress associated with South Australia’s hottest season on record. In this case, the stress is expressed as a herbal saltiness, and it plays a significant part in the wine’s flavour profile. Not much the makers could have done about that, but again I’d be drinking this red over the shorter term before the gloss departs its sumptuous expression of dark fruit flavour.
