Watkins Cellar Reserve Shiraz 2017

Written By Campbell Mattinson
Mattinson review of Watkins Cellar Reserve Shiraz 2017.

Watkins Cellar Reserve Shiraz 2017
$35, 14.1% alcohol, screwcap, Langhorne Creek.

Eight years old and the fruit flavours here are still lively, tasty and good. There are secondary, earthen, gently herbal characters in play here too, almost tobacco-like in nature, though cherry-plum and leather notes hold the most sway. You have to admire the balance of this wine, the all-round composure, and the highlights of mint and violet. Given that most of the cellaring has been done for you, this wine presents as very good value. 91 points.

Campbell Mattinson

This article was written by Campbell Mattinson, former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of the highly respected The Winefront site.

Mattinson has been an independent wine critic and photo-journalist since 1987. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the prized Best Australian Sports Writing Award.

Mattinson, who is 100% independent, puts a score out of 100 on every wine that he reviews. But what he’d rather do, is tell you the wine’s story.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
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