Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz 1997

[primowino]

I drank this at a wine tasting, with several hundred wines on offer, and I concluded it was my favourite red there - closely followed by a 1999 Gevrey Chambertin from Bouchard. At the same event I had been disappointed by Penfold's Grange from the same vintage, as to me it offered none of the characters of a hedonistic Aussie Shiraz or the depth of a classic Rhone Syrah. The Stonewell on the other hand is the best example of a plump voluptuous Shiraz I've tasted, with ample blackberry and cherry fruit and enough time in barrel to eliminate most of the usual sweetness and give a bit of backbone. This backbone also probably means you can hang on to some bottles, if you have enough, for a few more years and see how it develops.

The other important difference between this wine and the Grange is price, £30 compared with £120. As is often the case, in wine regions the world over, you should probably steer clear of the "best" example of the genre unless money is no object and choose from the chasing pack.