Campbell's Bobbie Burns Shiraz 1998

By MICHELE CURTIS

Recent years have seen much change in Australian wine making techniques and we now have tamer tannins, a more restrained use of oak and a ready-to-drink now style of wine.

This 'new-world' approach is evident in most local releases. Rutherglen, however, has a long tradition of producing 'big' wines.

Packed with gripping tannins, loads of oak, huge fruit flavours and possessing incredible longevity, it is home to Campbell's.

Their Bobbie Burns shiraz was created for their centenary in 1970 and it quickly became their flagship wine, riding the wave, or rather, helping to create the wave of renewed interest in shiraz in Australia.

The 1998 is the newest release of this famous wine and considering the recent upward price movements is a steal at around $20.00.

The long-living aspects of the Bobbie Burns means that it's almost a sacrilege to open a bottle today, but if you do what you'll find is a youngster waiting to blossom.

In the glass the wine looks like a mix of blood and cherry juice, deep and brooding with a big mid palate dominated by spice flavours.

There's loads of sweet fruit and gutsy tannins, stacked up beside a serious 14.6 per cent alcohol level.

It would be a sin to drink this wine now - buy a case and stick it away in a nice cool cellar and reap the rewards in 10-15 years.

RRP $20.00
4 out of 5