2002 Shiraz "Command" (Elderton)
This is not for the oak averse, but it is far, far better controlled than Elderton used to be in the past. It mostly lends the wine a lush feel, and round, soft texture, which is rather appealing frankly. It is full bodied and rich, easily accessible, yet there is good structure here and the wine shows that it has a finish and a backbone as time goes on. This is a pretty sexy Command. 94 points.

2001 Shiraz "St. Henri" (Penfold's)
This opens a bit too laid back, but it improves steadily in the glass. There is a hint of mint on the finish, but the oak is integrated exceptionally well. As the wine airs out and expands in the glass, it shows the ability to develop, and also its structure, as supporting tannins emerge. This is beautifully balanced, with a bright, succulent finish, and a pleasure to drink. 91 points.

1998 Shiraz "Draycott" (Burge Family)
My latest note on this shows it in good form. This limited production wine (400 cases) includes 23% old vines grenache, but is labeled "Shiraz." It is at a stage where the New World components have asserted themselves again, and it was plainly not Rhone. There are touches of mint and licorice, and it opens with the oak dominating. As always, however, this develops extremely well in the glass, and with air the parts integrate very well, and it comes into nice balance. It shows some intensity still, and has a certain, bright, lively feel. 92 points.

1997 Shiraz/Cabernets "J.S.M. (Fox Creek)
This wine was about $20 AUD at the cellar door, at the time about $13 US, not the type of price you expect to see holding well on Day 2 for a decade. Yet, it did. It opened poorly, the oak dominating. It took about forty minutes of air for it to come around, at which point the fruit finally showed itself, and its structure appeared as well. It was no longer a one-dimensional oak bomb, but a real wine, with backbone and nice fruit. The oak integrated more the next day, although the fruit faded a bit, too. It seemed like a completely different wine, more stern, more structured. I think I liked it best after a couple of hours on Day 1, but it showed an awful lot of character on Day 2. In its price range, that is nice argument to have. 90 points.

2001 "Integrity" (Marquis Philips)
This wine was  a success in a sense, i.e, at last I had an Integrity that I might actually be willing to drink.  It opened with blueberries and lavish oak notes, a mid-weight mid-palate that expanded in the glass with air, and reasonably good balance between fruit and structure. It had a little focus. It was restrained, with hints of those raspberries and kirsch elements that tend to mark this wine, but not to the extent of making it overly flamboyant. A little more air changed the picture, though. Apparently, the wine was a bit closed on opening. The longer it sat, the more dramatic it became, and the alcohol became noticeable. Still, this was a decent performance. It didn't win the wine ardent admirers, but at least it didn't make people recoil in horror, as this wine tends to do. 91  points.

2001 Shiraz "Baroota" (Hazyblur)
Sweet cherries lead this fragrant wine off. It is very ripe and flamboyant on the nose. However, the mid-palate is rather elegant, and the wine has some focus and purpose. There is also a whiff of green olive in the background, once past the flamboyant nuances. This has its moments, but not enough of them. As it becomes more normal with air, I found myself welcoming the normalcy, but not seeing much of distinction to replace the exotic aspects. 87 points.

2005 Shiraz "The Boxer" (Mollydooker)
Black in color and highly extracted, this wine made me think back to the last time I had a wine that seemed so flamboyant and eccentric. Oh, yeah. That would be another Mollydooker, or maybe an Integrity. It opens so sweet on the finish that I was wondering if there was some residual sugar. A lot of that moderated with air, but what was left was not necessarily more appealing at that point. It remains on the candied side, laden with kirsch notes, tasting like raspberry liqueur. It smooths out a bit with air, but there is always a somewhat odd, and occasionally harsh note.  It is hard to know what to make of this wine. It simply seems over-the-top in most respects. 87 points.

2005 Shiraz "9" (Marquis Philips)
Kirsch notes attack you on opening, but at first this seems ok. It is soft, and the mid-palate is elegant in weight. There is some alcohol noticeable in the back, but it seems to handle the 16+ fairly well at first. A quick taste of this is utterly deceptive, though. The longer it sits, the more alcoholic it seems. Its depth is ordinary and its intensity is modest. The wine has a touch of flamboyance surrounded by alcohol and kirsch. It actually has its moments, but it is hard to be impressed. 86 points.

1998 Cabernet Sauvignon "Langhorne Creek - Twin Rivers" (Birchwood)
This opens with a touch of flamboyance on the nose, a very ripe cherry note. However, the wine is beautifully balanced, elegant and rather gentle. It drinks very well. It took an hour or so of air to bring out more typical Cabernet Sauvignon notes, and then they were not the good kind, with the wine showing a bit green. This had moments when I liked it a lot, but it lacks intensity and I didn't much care for the developing green. 88 points.