Aramis O'Aristocratis Sparkling Syrah 2005
$95, 14.5% alcohol, DIAM cork, McLaren Vale.
This was made in 2005 and disgorged in 2011, which presumably means that it’s been ageing in bottle, on cork, for the past 14 years. That’s an extraordinary commitment of time. It tastes creamy, coffeed and blackberried with leather and dark chocolate notes threaded throughout. It’s soft, and mellow, but it still punches out plenty of flavour. 90 points.
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.
