2004 - Yarra Yering, Dry Red No 2

Dark red. Drop-dead pure red berry bouquet combines redcurrant, raspberry, wild strawberry, pomegranate and pungent white pepper. The red fruit riot continues on the palate, which has a texture like liquid silk and amazing clarity and lift. The precision and balance here are remarkable, as are the wine's depth and impression of restrained power. Finishes on a smoky, sweet note of strawberry liqueur, with completely buffered, velvety tannins. I'd happily pour this next to the suavest Southern Rhone wines of my experience.

The 2004 Dry Red Wine No. 2 (95% Shiraz and 5% Marsanne and Viognier), while also amazing, is more closed, tannic, and harder to fully penetrate than the Shiraz. With aeration, the bouquet reveals notions of exotic Asian spices intermixed with flowers, blackberries, and cassis. In the mouth, the wine struts its stuff with a full-bodied, layered, broad, flavorful, concentrated style and moderately high tannin in the finish. This fabulous bambino needs to be cellared for 2-4 years and drunk over the following two decades. Importer: Gavin Speight, Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA; tel. (707) 258-9552