Reviews & Ratings

2005 Torbreck Syrah & Shiraz (Other than French) "Run Rig"

Winery: Torbreck

Vintage: 2005

Wine Name/Vineyard: "Run Rig"

Wine Category: Syrah & Shiraz (Other than French)

Grape blend: 96.5% Shiraz & 3.5% Viognier

Bottle size: 750 ml

Region: Barossa Valley

State or country: Australia

Price: $200

Cases produced: 1,200

KWG Score: 96 (based on 3 reviews)

Ken's Wine Rating: Unbelievable/Fantastic (98-100)

Review date: March 4, 2008

Wine Review: Wow! I wasn’t sure you could really up the ante after the delicious Descendent, but the 2005 Run Rig was just a notch better. This wine is made with 97% Shiraz and a 3% slash of Viognier. The grapes come from vineyards with vines ranging from 92 to 150 years old. Winemaker Dave Powell told us that the terrior, vines, and grapes really make this wine quite easy to make. I however, am prepared to give Dave lots of credit for making this very special wine. The wine itself is very dark purple in color. It opens with a very aromatic blackberry bouquet with hints of menthol. On the palate, this full bodied wine is very very smooth, velvety, elegant, and shows wonderful blueberry flavors with hints of spicy mulberry. The finish is dry, has fine tannins that linger for quite some time. I describe Fantastic wines as wine that blow you away and that have flavors that make you yearn for more. Fantastic wines make an impression that you will not forget. They are also wines you brag about. The 2005 Run Rig is that wine. Buy one and enjoy it with friends and filet. They will soon be bragging about it with you. Cheers - Ken

Winemaker Notes: The 2005 RunRig, although wonderfully aromatic like its predecessors, is a wine that exhibits so much power and latent richness that it could easily be mistaken for the hugely concentrated wines sourced from the sun drenched hill of Hermitage (the historic home of Syrah and some of the worlds most powerful and longest living wines). Possessing a dense, saturated, almost ink like hue, the aromas of black raspberries, crème de cassis, smoke, graphite and melted tar soar from the glass. Full bodied with great intensity, amazing freshness and extraordinary concentration, the multi-layered palate displays the fruit purity that only the most fastidious farming can achieve. Hints of homemade marmalade, scorched earth and slow roasted meats later emerge with time in the glass. Although extremely intense, the wines power is cloaked within its balance and concentration, surging forth as an expansive sensation- the way only the greatest wines can. The 2005 RunRig will greatly reward those with patience.

Buy it: Use 1000 Corks to find stores that sell Torbreck 2005 "Run Rig".