Casley Mount Hutton 2008 Shiraz

I don’t know why I have never visited the cellar door of Casley Mount Hutton before, it doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway the error was corrected in a recent (January 2020) visit to the region. Both Grant and Sonya were very accommodating, Grant walked us through the entire winery process, including his laboratory (Grant is a retired chemical engineer) and both Sonya and Grant entertained us with stories about the region and their lives before settling on The Granite Belt as they poured sample after sample of their cellared vintages. This was an especially enjoyable afternoon for us and we would recommend it to anyone wanting to sample a range of Granite Belt vintage wines e.g. Grant and Sonya poured us their 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 shiraz wines and also a range of their Cabernet Sauvignons.

This 2008 Shiraz is well resolved and does take time to open up in the glass. I would suggest a long decant and some patience. 2008 was a cool vintage on The Granite Belt and the wines take some years to develop. This wine spent time on American and French oak, I don’t have the specific details but from the bouquet and palate I’d suggest that an amount of this was new oak. The colour is a dark cherry red with duller aspects at the meniscus The nose is reasonably closed at first and takes a long time to reveal the fruit. Eventually the fruit begins to open up and wafts through the earlier oak fragrances displaying plums and hints of older raspberries, there are raspberries, dark plums and chocolate on the palate, the fruit mingles with the oak at first, displays more intensity on the mid palate and then begins to fade to a little more oak flavours followed by some older acid aspects and then a little drying tannin. As a palate experience the wine is smooth and glides effortlessly along with a non-intrusive synergy, it’s great drinking and won’t disappoint anyone wanting an aged, smooth light to medium bodied shiraz as it excels in that range.

Update: Half of this was stored in a 375ml bottle and revisited on the third day. The wine had opened up a lot more, the fruit was more evident and the overall mouthfeel was quite silky, so the wine does need a big decant and a lot of patience.

Tasted: Thursday 16th January, re-tasted Saturday 18th January 2020 both tastings with and without food.
Alcohol: 13.8%
Closure: Diam
Price: $35
Suggested Drinking Window: Now to 2024

Posted by Peter Pacey

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