Bremerton Selkirk Shiraz 2008
$22, Screwcap, 14.5%
Source: Sample
http://www.bremerton.com.au/

Ahh Langhorne Creek, the comfort food of the Australian wine industry. There is something wonderfully reassuring about the generous choc-mint characters that Langhorne Creek reds dish up, at typically more than generous prices. Bremerton do such wines notably well, and this wine doesn’t let anyone down, even given the challenges of the vintage.

From first whiff it’s apparent that this is a rich and full flavoured red, with a nose straight out of the South Australian Shiraz textbook – it’s all red fruit, a snifter of volatility and a load of berry freshness. It’s also a nose that carries the mark of many 2008 South Australian reds, with plush, open sweet fruits edged with the first hint of overripeness, though the freshness here suggests that the Wilson family dodged a bullet and picked at just the right time.

Following the nose is a big mouthful of purple fruit, with soft plump berries and supporting vanilla oak, set quite sweetly in a round and smooth frameset. It’s very much a front and mid palate wine this year, finishing lighter and softer than some previous vintages (such as the 06 reviewed here), though for it’s intended purpose and pricepoint the lack of a firm tannic backbone will do no harm.

Affable red wine from a challenging vintage. 17.3/91