Mr. Black’s ConconctionSmall Gully Mr. Black’s Concoction Shiraz Viognier 2009
I bought this for Mother’s Day. I figured a couple of bottles of wines that cost more than my usual Saturday Night Specials would be a good thing to help ensure domestic tranquility. I had this wine a couple of years back so I was kind of excited to see it back on the shelves at The Vineyard. I remember it being pretty good. I definitely remember the label which features one of those old timey drawings from the days when phrenology was all the rage. It also featured what I thought was a naturalist drawing of an orchid. But on closer look it is some sort of map of the blood system showing the chambers of the heart with connected veins and arteries. Cool.
But it’s what inside the bottle that I like so much.
This wine has in your face fruit. If you like a really dry red wine don’t buy this wine. If you do buy this wine, try it just after opening, an hour later and then the next day.
This is 96% Shiraz and 4% Viognier. Odd mix since Viognier is a white grape. When I checked out Wikipedia it says that Viognier is often used to blend with Shiraz in Australia and to blend with Syrah in France. I guess i learn something new every day.
This doesn’t taste like any Shiraz I’ve ever had. When first opened it has a bit of an acidic bite to it. It kind of masks the dark fruit that eventually dominates the wine after it has a chance to breathe. On second taste later in the evening it started to lose its bite and the dark heavy fruit flavors started to pop.
After a day the wine is just as intense and starts to show chocolate notes. I could swear that I’m starting to taste bacon. Hmmmm. What doesn’t doesn’t taste better with bacon. (Although I did have a discussion one night at Wine World with a man who said too many things taste like bacon and he didn’t want it in his wine… weirdo…. I digress).
I checked out their website, which has a copyright date of 2006, which only lists 2 wines, this one and a straight Shiraz. They don’t even mention the Mr. Black’s Conconction GSM I found on a distributor’s website or the “The Formula” which The Vineyard featured at a tasting back in 2010. Maybe they need a new webmaster.
They say “The Shiraz fruit for this wine is selected quite late in the growing season to coincide with the picking of a small parcel of Viognier with which it is co-fermented. While being quite ripe the Viognier gives the wine a slightly perfumed aroma which carries through to the palate.”
I have to wonder if the late picking of this grape is the reason why it’s so lush.
We opened it on Mothers Day, that’s when I detected the acid. When I tried it on Monday… and later in the week, Thursday night it was very lush and very fruit forward. This wine has a very heavy mouthfeel. Mrs. Dan liked it very much. I have to admit though that I moved it to the side and have been giving her a different wine and kept the rest for my self.
Now I don’t think I will buy this very often because it does cost $14.99. But it made for a nice Mother’s Day wine.
Next time I get invited to a bring-your-own blind tasting with a $15 limit I think I might just take this one.
From: Barossa Valley, Australia
Winery: Small Gully Wines
Year: 2009
