Has anyone tried this Aussie blend recently? On the bottle it says to hold for 8 years or more. On the label is the word "Bilyara". I would like to know what this is. It is made in South Australia. TIA for any info.

IW

Bilyara is the name of the vineyards from which the top Wolf Blass wines are sourced.

The 1995 vintage in Barossa rated about a 7/10 and certain vineyards produced excellent and wonderfully longlived wines.
I would put the Black Label in this category.
Originally the Wolf Blass range was designed to appeal to the general market but as wine was taken more seriously by that market, companies such as Penfold, Wolf Blass, Mildarra etc all focused on their flagship labels and began producing outstanding wines.

The Black Label shiraz 1995 tns as follows, this was tasted in 2000 so please take that into account.
Colour: Deep red with purple tinges.
Nose: Cassis and pepper is overt and obvious, however softer cherry, tobacco and gamey characters are also evident. A hint of leather also (?)
Palate: Tannins still strong with forward acids. Mid palate is excellent with long lingering peppery finnish and superbly rugged aftertaste.
Overall: An excellent example of Barossa at its best. The cabs structure certainly adds to the shiraz's ripe fruit combining to produce an excellently powerful wine. 92/100

Hope that helps.

Jeremy,

Thank you very much for the info. I decided to open the bottle last night. I brought it to one of our favorite restaurants and they only charged me $10 corkage. As a thank you I let the manager try it with us and he thoroughly enjoyed it like we did. My girlfriend and I were celebrating our 1 year anniversary from our first date. I had a grilled rib eye steak and she had the rack of lamb. The wine went beautifully with both. The predominant flavors of cherry and brick plum were quite evident in the mid and back palate with an abundance of chewy tannins throughout. Based on the amount of tannin and acidity this wine would have lasted at least another 4 years. Overall I agree with your assesment of 92 pts. and the rugged aftertaste. I wish I had another bottle or two.

IW

I had this wine in mid 2001, and found that what Jeremy posted was right on.

A very good Aussie wine. I wish I had more....

RRV