Fox Creek, the McLaren Vale maker established by Jim and Helen Watts in 1984, is offering a boxed set of its acclaimed Reserve Shiraz, featuring consecutive vintages from 1994, the first issued, to 1999. I had the opportunity to taste the set, and in doing so revisit several wines I had not tasted for some time. Each of the wines was sourced from an eight acre block of shiraz known as The Willows Vineyard planted as recently as 1989, except the 1998 which received small amounts from two other young estate vineyards. Recent vintages have been made by Dan Hills and Tony Walker, while the early releases were made by Sarah and Sparky Marquis. The 1994 wine (18.7, drink 2006-2014) remains a highlight. It’s superbly smooth and balanced, with delightfully spicy blackberry fruit tightly woven around smoked oyster oak and fine tannins. The 1995 (16.7, drink 1997-2002) isn’t ageing as well as I had expected, and unless my sample was slightly oxidised the wine is looking rather dehydrated and drying out. There’s some intense jujube cassis-like fruit with coconut and milk chocolate oak about the 1996 wine (17.1, drink 2001-2004+), which has become more thick and syrup-like than I anticipated. Like many 1997 shirazes from South Australia, the 1997 release (16.4, drink 2002-2005+) now looks rather cooked and stewy, with raisined, dehydrated fruit rather swamped by new oak. There’s significantly more elegance and suppleness about the fresh, lively and rather uncomplicated and forward 1998 release (17.0, drink 2003-2006+), although the astringent tannins there from its youth still give rather a heavily pressed and extracted finish. It’s impressive, but lacks the balance and style of the 1994 and the very impressive 1999 edition. Here’s a terrific young red (18.6, drink 2007-2011+), bursting with cassis and raspberry flavours, given just the right time in creamy mocha oak, and finishing long and tight, wrapped in silky tannins. This tasting simply confirms how hard it is to evaluate early vintages of very powerful expressions of modern Australian dry reds, which in their youth are steeped in the most concentrated fruit. I’ve downgraded my ratings for the 1995, 1996 and 1997 vintages by enough to drop them a level of medal, but believe they have shown very well for such young vine wines. The deal for the set is $650 direct from the winery, which can be contacted via [email protected] or 08 8556 2403.
