Westlake, Eleazar Shiraz 2009

If ever you needed proof that bigger is not better, look no further than the Westlake Eleazar Vineyard in South Australia’s Barossa Valley.

Their flagship Shiraz, the “Eleazar”, sells at around $55 a bottle but is as good a Barossa Shiraz as I’ve tried in the last year. They only produce about 70 cases of this wine a year, but it’s seriously good.

It’s slightly dusty on the nose, but the palate is typically Barossa with generous mouth-filling currants and chocolate but constrained by a French and American oak support structure.

The beauty of the wine is its silky mouth feel and the absence of any flat spots. The secret is out.

Travis Schultz

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