Thursday, July 21, 2011

TAYLORS PROMISED LAND SHIRAZ 2010

- South Australia
- $7-$15
- Screwcap
- 13.5%alc

At first glance Taylors appear to have an overcrowded lower end, but closer inspection reveals there are subtle differences between Taylors' trio of sub-$20 labels. The highly recognised white label, or Estate range, represents a collection of single varietal wines sourced from either Clare or the Adelaide Hills, or both. Next up, Eighty Acres stands as a group of Clare Valley wines made with 'carbon neutral' ideals. Then finally, Promised Land resides as Taylors' outpost for fairly predictable, multi-region blends, the sort you see everywhere.

Ripe boysenberry and and sour-edged fruit aromas rise from the glass of Taylors' 2010 Promised Land Shiraz, with an additional leafy, herbal note. On first sniff, it smells slightly marijuana-like, but its green edges settle almost immediately, disappearing into a fruity nose with spicy fruitcake scents, leaving a fragrance which is simple and inoffensive, if fractionally indistinct. In the mouth it's quite round and all about plummy, raisiny, straight-up-front flavour, as it extends particularly loose and soft, showing touches of sweet oak and warm fruit, yet it finishes without any genuine direction or focus. A little more structure would've gone a long way here, but it is cheap and that's how it tastes.

O A step up from cask red, but not a big one. It's a wine 'to drink with friends' (because you'll wanna be distracted from it somewhat). Drink to 2012.
85 points


3 comments:

  1. "it finishes without any genuine direction or focus"

    I agree. Have you tried the other Promised Land wines??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Lincoln, it's good know I'm not alone in my thoughts sometimes ;)

    I've had the cabernet sauvignon, but I actually preferred the shiraz, just. I though the cabernet was a little more ambitious, but the shiraz more the type of wine I could just smash down aimlessly with friends. The merlot's still on the bench :)

    I had a look and your write-up and I'll have to admit, the comparative tasting makes a lot of sense. I'm just so stubborn and insistent on reviewing wines individually on Australian Wine Journal. Wo is me :-{

    Would love to know how the blending went though. I could see a deftly merged touch of cabernet into shiraz improving both products, possibly :)

    Cheers,
    Chris P

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just opened a bottle of Promised Land Cab Merlot 2008 and was surprised, given the previous reviews, to find it had aged very well and was without doubt several steps up from a cask wine ;) Definitley one of the better wines of this price point that I have had recently.

    Chris Hallam

    ReplyDelete