2003 Jacob’s Creek Shiraz Reserve

Date: 25DEC07

Name: Jacob’s Creek

Label:

Winery: Jacob’s Creek

Region: South Australia

Website: http://www.jacobscreek.com/

Varietal: Shiraz

Vintage: 2003

Price: not known

Appearance: Dark, with rose on the rim. Full-bodied and clear.

 Nose: Plum, dark cherry, with a hint of spice.

Taste: Firm tannins, medium finish. Very good.

Tellings: I had this and several other wines while in Dallas visiting in-laws. My notes are sparse, don’t exist for at least two wines, and don’t convey the full experience with the wines. While I did scurry off to write down some quick notes, these “vacation” critiques will be incomplete as much for the situation as for the effect of several glasses of wine.

My wife has two sisters and three brothers, located in Houston, Dallas, St. Louis and Virginia. My sister-in-law and her betrothed live in a mature tree-filled neighborhood off of Preston Road, one of the Dallas Metroplex’s most venerable and cosmopolitan avenues, stretching north/south “from the Turtle Creek/Oak Lawn area through Highland Park, North Dallas, Plano, and beyond.” A nice history of Preston Road can be found here: http://gilglover.com/Dview2a.htm.

Their house is a mid 70’s-model and typical of both the area and the era, with large second and third bedrooms and a step-down living room. Almost in complete contradistinction to our house, theirs is warm and inviting, from the cozy, self-painted walls to the beautiful floating flower-centerpiece in the guest bathroom. They both have a wonderfully cultivated sense of decorating and arranging and their house speaks to that. Sharing the house during the week was my sister-in-law from St. Louis and her boyfriend, both medical doctors.

Unbeknownst to me my sister-in-law’s fiance is quite a wine connoisseur. They had recently returned from a trip to Napa Valley and Sonoma where they toured several vineyards, and have also traveled to Italy where I understand wine played a large role. Though there are plans to have a permanent, temperature and humidity controlled wine storage area, the makeshift wine rack in the living room had some fine wines, some of which could only be purchased from the country of origin. He generously poured four wines from his collection, two reds, a white and a Muscat desert wine.

He’s also a coffee connoisseur and though I’m not a coffee drinker, I do look forward to whatever he’s roasting because it’s always fantastic. Both of my wife’s sisters recently took a trip to Costa Rica and brought back some of the local coffee beans and that was my first introduction to a quality cup of coffee. I’m still wrestling with the idea of getting a grinder and maker myself, but can’t quite pull the trigger as I don’t drink for the caffeine boost, and don’t want to become addicted to it, but do enjoy the taste. Maybe I’ll continue to mooch off of him!

The next two wines I tried were at my brother-in-law’s house, a few miles north on Preston Road. In a beautiful stucco house they built in a fine neighborhood at the intersection of Preston and Parker they hosted a large group for supper, which included my mother-in-law and her boyfriend and the entire sibling group. My brother-in-law’s wife, arguably the doyenne of the group, treated us to appetizers of spiced meats wrapped around a cheese-based spread and a fine cut of asparagus – delectable – steak and pork tenderloins, salad, mashed potatoes, varied desserts and, I must admit, a couple of other dishes I can’t remember – it’s that wine, again – but everything was very, very good. We had supper, played Wii tennis and baseball – must…buy…Wii –  and talked intermittently throughout the night. We had a wonderful time. Sadly, I was not able to take notes on and frankly don’t remember which wines I had while there, but both were better than any I’ve purchased and drank myself. We were treated to the guitar stylings of one of their twin children (names withheld). Though I understand both can play very well, one is less-bashful and can really make his guitar sing. He’s even teaching his dad a few licks! They both destroyed me at Wii. Not funny, BTW.

Of note is that we tried a Vinturi wine aerator on the wines: http://www.vinturi.com/venturi1.html. The Vinturi is designed to decant a wine in a hurry. We tried the Jacob’s Creek wine freshly opened and before the Vinturi, and then after using the Vinturi. I was the only one that could not taste the difference. All around everyone reported a distinct difference in the taste, a more “open” nose to the wine. I would defer to them, or better yet, buy a Vinturi and try it for yourself. I am going to get one and will try the experiment again with a side-by-side tasting.

We left San Antonio about noon on Monday, and returned at about 3:30 on Friday. We really enjoyed the trip – especially our daughter Penny, still excited by all the attention - and will host my sister-in-law and her wine-connoisseur fiance today (Saturday) as his brother is playing in the Alamo Bowl football game.