has anyone tried this one yet?! how does it compare to the 2005 or 2006 vintages?!

some have mentioned the 2007 may become like the 2003 (in terms of quality, also a difficult/small production year).

thanks!
wm

Don't know about this particular vintage, but the Amon Ra is one of my very favorite OZ wines.

I've never had one that didn't wow me.

quote:

Originally posted by winemanintheden:
has anyone tried this one yet?! how does it compare to the 2005 or 2006 vintages?!

some have mentioned the 2007 may become like the 2003 (in terms of quality, also a difficult/small production year).

thanks!
wm

I think its too early to try one, but Amon Ra has been highly rated for the last 5 years by the WA, and I think they have it correct! What's even better, it is a really good QPR, as you can find it for $79USD, which is really good for a 97/100 point wine.

I just popped a 2005 last night. It was an acidic and borderline pruny mess lacking any discernable depth, complexity, or structure. Not bad or off or cooked in my opinion, just a mediocre example of 2005 Shiraz. If I tasted it blind I would have expected it to have cost $20 (in terms of Canada pricing). Have had more than a case of 2005 Mitolo GAM and would match the Amon Ra up with the poorest few bottles of GAM. Maybe just in a bad stage but with no evident structure or balance I don't know what this will do in the next several years. We will see what night #2 holds in a few hours.

Side note: Last week, I attended a retail tasting with Andrew Tierney of Torbreck. He made mentioned that the '09 vintage is shaping up to be the best in several years (keep in mind, they harvested 6 months ago).

Just mentioning that, after a past few 'o.k.' vintages, it seems a grand one may be upon us.

some have mentioned the 2007 may become like the 2003 (in terms of quality, also a difficult/small production year).


Heard the same thing and not to expect a price drop. I think they are assuming they are protected against the recession this by the reduced supply of the 07 vintage. I am yet to open an Amon-Ra but I did not like 07 Bishop... Anyone know if Bishop is a second wine from the same grapes or a totally separate product?

PS. Thanks for the return of editing !!!!

I think the Bishop is a totally different product with fruit coming from their Ebenezer vineyard. Bishop is the maiden name of the wife of Colin Glaetzer. I'm not sure what vineyard the Amon Ra fruit comes from.

quote:

Originally posted by Machine:
I just popped a 2005 last night. It was an acidic and borderline pruny mess lacking any discernable depth, complexity, or structure. Not bad or off or cooked in my opinion, just a mediocre example of 2005 Shiraz. If I tasted it blind I would have expected it to have cost $20 (in terms of Canada pricing). Have had more than a case of 2005 Mitolo GAM and would match the Amon Ra up with the poorest few bottles of GAM. Maybe just in a bad stage but with no evident structure or balance I don't know what this will do in the next several years. We will see what night #2 holds in a few hours.

Wow... that's totally different from the wines I've consumed (I've had 2 of a 6 pack). The wines I've tasted have had great complexity for a young Shiraz and have shown a terrifically balanced palate with no heaviness whatsoever. I generally despise the pruney character I find in too many young Shiraz... but there was absolutely none of that in my 2005 Amon-Ra's.

I also drink a lot of Mitolo... and none of them hold a candle to the Amon-Ra IMO. Very nice wines... but no contest.

My 6-pack came directly from the previous agent and were purchased a year or so before the LCBO release... I wonder if something did go wrong with that shipment.

quote:

Originally posted by SThomas:

quote:

Originally posted by Machine:
I just popped a 2005 last night. It was an acidic and borderline pruny mess lacking any discernable depth, complexity, or structure. Not bad or off or cooked in my opinion, just a mediocre example of 2005 Shiraz. If I tasted it blind I would have expected it to have cost $20 (in terms of Canada pricing). Have had more than a case of 2005 Mitolo GAM and would match the Amon Ra up with the poorest few bottles of GAM. Maybe just in a bad stage but with no evident structure or balance I don't know what this will do in the next several years. We will see what night #2 holds in a few hours.

Wow... that's totally different from the wines I've consumed (I've had 2 of a 6 pack). The wines I've tasted have had great complexity for a young Shiraz and have shown a terrifically balanced palate with no heaviness whatsoever. I generally despise the pruney character I find in too many young Shiraz... but there was absolutely none of that in my 2005 Amon-Ra's.

I also drink a lot of Mitolo... and none of them hold a candle to the Amon-Ra IMO. Very nice wines... but no contest.

My 6-pack came directly from the previous agent and were purchased a year or so before the LCBO release... I wonder if something did go wrong with that shipment.

Pruniness was gone tonight, acid had calmed down, but no tannin/backbone/obvious structure (whatever that is) to speak of, and although it was more balanced it really lacked the complexity that I expected from a wine of this calibre. It was certainly fruity and expressive with an excellent (but again rather one-dimensional) nose. Certainly something could have gone wrong in shipping (bought these from Premier Cru a few years ago and had them shipped to NYC in cool weather), or just not a great bottle. My other 4 are sitting in storage in NYC, but I do have two 2006's sitting in the cellar (from LCBO), maybe I will pop one of those to compare. I also have 3 bottles of 2003 Standish the Standish, if I have the nads to pop one of those I will comment on that also, just to see how a shiraz with a few more years is holding up. Does anyone age their aussie fruit bomb shiraz for any length of time?

Weird. I have had this wine once and thought it had balance, structure and stunning fruit. I hear others describe it as out of balance, "face acid" tartaric crystals, hot etc. I suspect differences in palate and preference than bottle variation but who knows for sure?

Anyone ever drink the Anaperrena, Bishop or Wallace? What do you guys think of those? I bought two bottles of the Wallace and hear it is crap, unbalanced etc, then I hear it is complex and an OZ wine with French sensibilities. Can't wait to try it myself but I want to give it a year or two since a few people have said they are better the second day.

quote:

Originally posted by SThomas:
... but there was absolutely none of that in my 2005 Amon-Ra's.

I also drink a lot of Mitolo... and none of them hold a candle to the Amon-Ra IMO. Very nice wines... but no contest.

2005 is an excellent vintage for Amon Ra.

Mitolo and Amon Ra have nothing in common whatsoever to each other's profiles.
Another level altogether.

the 2004 wallace is excellent! i think it was at its peak last year. absolutely beautiful. great finesse and delicious. not super balanced, but a great wine. had the 2006 after and it just wasn't the same (albiet a few years younger). i've found the wallace hits its peak after 3 years in the bottle. agree the mitolo is a really nice bottle (very well structured/balanced)

i have yet to pop any of my 05/06 or 07 amon ra but am VERY anxious to try them. i got a personal message from ben glaetzer (re: 05 amon ra) and he said to optimally open it 8 years from vintage date (2013)... so guess will see..

part of the reason why i enjoy ben glaetzer's wines so much is not just the fact he's a fantastic winemaker and not all about the $$$$ (seriously, amon ra could sell for a lot more), he's also a real down to earth, likeable guy.

anyone try the 06 amon ra, 06 bishop or 05 godolphin?! waiting to pop these..

cheers!

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:

quote:

Originally posted by SThomas:
... but there was absolutely none of that in my 2005 Amon-Ra's.

I also drink a lot of Mitolo... and none of them hold a candle to the Amon-Ra IMO. Very nice wines... but no contest.

2005 is an excellent vintage for Amon Ra.

Mitolo and Amon Ra have nothing in common whatsoever to each other's profiles.
Another level altogether.

I agree, but 2005 GAM was clearly superior to the 2005 Amon Ra that I had. I am fine waiting longer if required, but I enjoy aussie shiraz when it is young and have heard mixed opinions on how well it ages.

anyone try the 06 amon ra, 06 bishop or 05 godolphin?! waiting to pop these..

cheers![/QUOTE]

Loved the 06 Amon-Ra and enjoyed the 06 Bishop. I was very disappointed with 06 Anaperrena and 06 Wallace. Perhaps they weren't ready but they were very disjointed.

I've got several bottles of the 05 Bishop and Godolphin in my cellar, along with the 06 Amon Ra. The only one I've tried to date was the Bishop, and it was stunning. Decanted for two hours and it had a phenomenal nose. Very big black cherry and licorice. The tannins were big, but well integrated and smooth. The wine was well balanced and the finish was lenghty. It was the wine of the night at the tasting I brought it to. I gave it a solid 94. I can't wait to see if the Amon Ra is better, but I suppose I should wait!

I've had 2005 and 2006 Amon-Ra's; to my palate, the 2005 is well structured and built to age, so I'm not touching any more for another 3-4 years, but I don't see the 2006 improving much, so might as well enjoy it whenever.

I've only had the 2006 Anaparenna, and I really enjoyed it.. enough that I went and bought more. I really like the complexity that the Cab brings to it, but the texture is all Shiraz. It too needs a few years to really come into it's own.

I've had the 2004-2007 Bishops and find the 2004 is only now starting to lose it's baby fat and really round into shape. The 2005 didn't impress me, the 2006 is going to be good but needs a couple of more years, and the 2007 is drinking well out of the gate. I would drink the 2007 before any of the other 3 vintages.

The Wallace... I think it only really works in cooler vintages. The 2005 was/is great at the price point, but I found the 2006 was the only wine in the Glaetzer line up that showed some pruney characters. Not bad, but not up to the standard of the 2005. Haven't tried the 2007 yet (it will be released here in a week or so).

quote:

Originally posted by SThomas:
I've only had the 2006 Anaparenna, and I really enjoyed it.. enough that I went and bought more. I really like the complexity that the Cab brings to it, but the texture is all Shiraz. It too needs a few years to really come into it's own.

I liked it very much also, but did not think that it was worth the price.

quote:

Originally posted by Machine:

quote:

Originally posted by SThomas:
I've only had the 2006 Anaparenna, and I really enjoyed it.. enough that I went and bought more. I really like the complexity that the Cab brings to it, but the texture is all Shiraz. It too needs a few years to really come into it's own.

I liked it very much also, but did not think that it was worth the price.

You're probably right. I don't regret buying Anaparenna, but will likely not buy the 2007 as my $ go elsewhere (2007 California and Rhone...)

quote:

Originally posted by SThomas:

quote:

Originally posted by Machine:

quote:

Originally posted by SThomas:
I've only had the 2006 Anaparenna, and I really enjoyed it.. enough that I went and bought more. I really like the complexity that the Cab brings to it, but the texture is all Shiraz. It too needs a few years to really come into it's own.

I liked it very much also, but did not think that it was worth the price.

You're probably right. I don't regret buying Anaparenna, but will likely not buy the 2007 as my $ go elsewhere (2007 California and Rhone...)

When I bought the 2006 it was on a shelf with a $29.95 price tag and since I bought a bunch of stuff at the time I didn't notice that it was $59.95. I drank it, remarked that it was really good for $30, went to the website to see if any store close by had any inventory, and was disappointed to see the actual price. I would have bought again if it was $40-45, but not $60.

Somebody please crack an 07 Amon-Ra !!!

quote:

Originally posted by Sweatred:
Somebody please crack an 07 Amon-Ra !!!

Only if I dropped it on a concrete floor! The 2007 is far too early to open! The WA estimates 2015 before opening and rates it 96-99 points. I think everyone can rely on the fact it is an excellent wine and worth the tariff, but opening now would be a waste. I often waste !

quote:

Originally posted by latour67:
The WA estimates 2015 before opening and rates it 96-99 points.

Actually, the quote I read was specifically Jay Miller awarding it 99 pts (Feb 09).

the 07 amon ra was super limited here. i spoke to the distributor and he mentioned if you want it, buy it fast since there just isn't much from this vintage. it arrived in liquor stores and completely sold out within 3 weeks (back in the spring 09). that's it for our allocation.

but like the rest, very anxious and interested to see what this one will be like in awhile vs. the 05/06. a true test of the winemaker's ability in the difficult 07. since it was uncompromised when created, i'm sure it should still be up there in the rankings!

quote:

Originally posted by latour67:

quote:

Originally posted by Sweatred:
Somebody please crack an 07 Amon-Ra !!!

Only if I dropped it on a concrete floor! The 2007 is far too early to open! The WA estimates 2015 before opening and rates it 96-99 points. I think everyone can rely on the fact it is an excellent wine and worth the tariff, but opening now would be a waste. I often waste !

Somebody here has enough of them that they are willing to try one !!! Tonnes of 05's & 06's have been consumed over the past few years in the 98-99 range from Parker... no reason to think anyone would hold onto the 07's any tighter...

Great comments y'all...

I have two bottles of the 2006 Amon Ra and one of 2004 Bishop laid down... I have not cracked open any since WS suggests opening them after 2010... hmmm, what to do, what to do...