Glaetzer "Godolphin" (70% Shiraz, 30% Cabernet) Barossa Valley 2004

Purple/red.

Dense nose - wax, chocolate frosting - with meat and black fruit underneath. Unusually filled in/packed. No sign of heat.

Completely packed in the mouth, with a building sense of sweetness. Absolutely seamless, with structural acid/tannin synergy coating the front teeth clandestinely. Building from there.

Now this works extremely well. Should drink well for many years. Nothing jarring or artificial here.

Day 3 - Cocoa powder/Andes mint/melted wax on the nose. Slightly less seamless, a bit of alcohol in the finish. But this is splitting hairs. Nicely put together. Will it develop any real complexity?

Day 9 - Vivid Andes Mint aromatics. Exactly like the retronasal impression you get when chewing one of these puppies. Cocoa powder and a hint of meat too. Extremely unusual, dry powdered cocoa impression in the mouth also. It works for me, but I wonder what winemaking techniques account for this?

$55