Stylish and heavily worked, this is a finely balanced shiraz from a difficult vintage whose herbal edge has been tempered with oak and careful aeration to develop more balance and stability. Dusty and herbal, its faintly leafy and peppery bouquet of sweet red cherries, cranberries and red plums knits with smoky, faintly meaty and mocha-like oak. Medium to full-bodied, with genuine length of restrained small berry and blackberry flavours supported by fine, crunchy tannins, it finishes long and gentle with a fresh acidity.

Full to medium in weight, this smooth and handsomely oaked shiraz takes times to unfold its heady, wild and briary perfume of blackberries, blueberries, cassis and small red fruits. Backed by smoky, chocolatey and cedary notes and lifted by a whiff of dark flowers, it then drives long and firmish down a faintly mineral spine of drying tannins, leaving a powerful impression of deeply layered, meaty and sumptuously ripened dark fruit. Finishing with elegance and savoury charm, it will only become smoother and more velvety with time.

One of the most Francophilic of the Giaconda shirazes to date, with dusty, herbal, floral aromas of small black and red berries, smoked meats and restrained chocolate/cedar oak backed by notes of cracked pepper and musky spice. Long and supple, it unfolds a lively core of small black and red berries underpinned by fine, drying tannins, finishing with savoury aspects. ThereÕs just a little too much of a herbal note through this wine for a higher rating.

Very generous and quite advanced, with a spicy, mealy fragrance of flowers and fresh bark, melon and grapefruit, plus smoky, creamy, leesy undertones of nutty and clove-like complexity. Forward and buttery, its juicy and honeyed palate of vibrant citrus/melon fruit is framed by a slightly hard-edged acidity, finishing with a note of buttered corn.