2008 Three Rings Shiraz Barossa Valley South
Medium ruby core; brick brown rim. Some ageing, showing diverse tertiary and licorice tones.
Tasting old Aussie Shiraz may require a different mentality. Get it chilled and stable at 15C before glass and let it stay there for 15 minutes or more. By now, it should give a rich (dense), adequate sweetish fruit(dark cherry and currant fruit, ripe plums, raisins,), elements of a gentle Shiraz (peppery), quite warm (15.6%) and supple. It is medium-bodied, smooth but rather energized finished with tones of cigar box, tobacco, black pepper, dark chocolate at the same time.
Why this wine:
3 Rings Shiraz consistently got scores from the 90 to 93 range
To safeguard quality, they don’t product for some vintages, for examples 2010 2011
Chris Ringland and his team were the markers
A wine of great concentration and power is almost guaranteed
Dirt cheap; rare, old vintage from the great Barossa Valley
Should still drink well in the next years.
The 2008 Barossa vintage started early and was great vintage for Barossa Valley. Due to the unusually early start to the vintage much of the Barossa fruit ripened before the heat hit. The post vintage tastings showed how great many of the wines of 2008 are.
Grapes come from the Blaxland and Hoklas vineyards with in the Gomersal sub region of the Barossa Valley, one of the oldest vineyard areas in the appellation. The average age of the vines is 15 years, and they are gown in red-brown earth over limestone. The vineyard exposure is east-west sloping with predominately north-south rows and the ‘double wire’ trellis system was used. 3 Rings Shiraz wines are matured in tanks with high-quality French oak innerstaves for eight months before being bottling.
Notable scores are:
91 points Wine Enthusiast
*Editor's Choice* this is a great example of what the Barossa Valley can deliver at an affordable price. The alcohol is high, but well buffered by an ample raspberry flavor. Despite the prevalence of raspberry and vanilla notes, it's not excessively confected or fruity, since it's grounded in savory, earthy notes. Drink now - 2020. (2/2013)
90 points Wine Spectator
Broad, smooth and focused, with Earl Grey tea overtones to the raspberry and cherry flavors. Shows density, drive and deftness on the finish. Drink now through 2018. (4/2012)
