Very elegant and stylish, with the depth and structure suggestive of fine Saint-Julien. It opens with a dark, musly and mineral bouquet of cassis, blood plums and redcurrants lifted by heady scents of red and blue flowers and knit with cedar/mocha/dark chocolate oak. Supported by a fine, drying spine of firm tannin, its deep, beautifully poised core of blackberry, mulberry and cassis-like flavour extends with smoothness and polish towards a lingering savoury finish. Likely to build with time in the bottle, then age classically later on.
A finer and more elegant Michael Shiraz whose musky fragrance of dark berries, cassis, plums and briar knit tightly with measured cedar/vanilla oak and is lifted by exotic scents of spice and cracked pepper. Deeply flavoured and underpinned by fine mineral tannins, it’s long and vibrant, with a pleasing core of brightly lit small black, blue and red fruits wrapped in a lively acidity.