2004 Hundred Acre “Ancient Way” Shiraz

Our second wine of the infamous “Real Date Night”, was one that truthfully, I have tried before and not been absolutely impressed by. However, the 2004 is really coming along nicely. The color is dark ruby and simply stunning in the glass. Full of spice and some nice floral components, the nose is still not overpowering to nice fruit like blackberry and cassis that come through on the palate.  Very complex and full with tons of dark fruit.  The finish just goes and goes.

Phillipe Melka is one of Hundred Acre’s winemakers. He also works for Vineyard 29, Quintessa, and Bryant Family. Melka produces the Ancient Way Shiraz. It is made from old vines in Australia’s Barossa Valley. This vineyard yielded an incredibly low .8 tons per acre. 600 cases of this wine were produced.  The Viticulturist for  Penfold’s selected the very best cuttings from Grange’s core vineyard blocks to create the vineyard. The soil is red soil over limestone, and allows Hundred Acre to produce a Shiraz like no other ever made down under.

Jayson Woodbridge (owner and winemaker), applies an extremely “Hands on” approach to this wine and in my opinion is responsible for one of the finest wines we’ve tasted. It is not too limited so find some and give it a try.

Rating: 94