Boutique anything is all the rage. Small lots, handcrafted, artisanal etc. etc. Well, this is not a boutique winery. Jacob's Creek is one of the major brands of Australian wine. And all credit to them. Making excellent wine is one thing; making it good value as well is another; and making very large volumes of excellent, good value wine is a whole different story again. I'm really curious about how they contract the grape growing, monitor quality and so on. But however they do it, consumers are the winners. The Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz delivers the classic peppery, fruit forward, balanced Shiraz that made Australia's wine reputation.
We've recently had the 2003 and the 1998 (it was called Show Reserve in '98). The 2003 is drinking extremely well right now. The fruit on this style of wine can be a bit over the top when first released, but the intensity is down and the balance is perfect right now on the 2003; just delicious. I'm patting myself on the back for having bought a whole case. The 1998 (courtesy of Ted's cellar) was also excellent. The fruit has faded slightly compared to the 2003, but there's still plenty of it. I tasted it blind, and while I picked it for an Australian Shiraz right off the bat, I guessed it might be a 2004 - that's how much fruit it had left. (But I have to admit, Kelly thought it was 10 years old - like I've said, she has a better palate than I do.) Interestingly, it hasn't gained much complexity. If I have one complaint about Aussie Shiraz, it's that they tend to be a bit of a one-note wine - a great note when it's well done, but still. Even at 10 years old the JC Reserve was still much the same fruit-driven wine that it was at 5 years. The fruit had faded (or mellowed), but there wasn't a lot of extra complexity. Comparing the 2003 and 1998, I'd say that cellaring this wine for a couple of extra years after release for the '03 was totally worth while, but the extra five years for the '98 didn't add a lot, even though it's still drinking well. And that's just as well - who needs to cellar a wine for a decade if it's not going to make any difference?
ANBL doesn't carry the Reserve line from Jacob's Creek any more. If they're still delivering the same value, I for one would like to see it come back.
Price: '03 = $23; '98 = $28
Value: '03 = 5/5; '98 = 4/5
Score: 89
Tasted: Sept 2008
ANBL UPC: No longer listed
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I don't entirely agree with your point about cellaring time. It's true that the 2003 is drinking very well now, as the 1998 was in 2003; and I also agree that the 1998 isn't significantly more complex than the 2003. But I found that the 1998 had some very nice peppery, smoky flavours that were dominated by strong fruit a few years ago. I'd say that optimal cellaring time for this wine depends on just how fruit forward you like it. If we really have a case of 2003, my plan would be to drink 2 per year through 2012.
ReplyDeleteYou two do a much better job of describing wine than I do, but I thought you might be interested in knowing that I blogged about a Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz too (but a newer one than both that you've tried). It actually appears in two different posts--here:
ReplyDeletehttp://kathyisawino.blogspot.com/2010/03/jacobs-creek-reserve-shiraz-2006-south.html
and here:
http://kathyisawino.blogspot.com/2010/03/its-time.html