Tyrell’s Vat 11 2002 Baulkham Shiraz, originally uploaded by Kevglobal.
I bought this wine at Sydney Australia Duty Free on my way back from a recent conference. The Duty Free shops in Australia are brilliant for good wine and good wine values.
I thought about buying a nice premium wine, such as D’Arenberg’s Dead Arm. But instead, I bought Suw a quite nice pare of opal ear rings set in white gold as a late wedding present. Instead, of buying something pricey, I decided to buy two bottles of moderately priced wine.
Fortunately, one of the sales staff at duty free also said that he was a judge at regional wine competitions, and he definitely seemed to know his stuff. I wanted to buy two bottles of good Aussie Shiraz, and he made a good point, which is that buying a Shiraz that had some time in the bottle was important. It being such a big wine, it needed some time to reach it’s peak.
He steered me in the direction this bottle of Tyrrell’s. He said that it was a special selection, with the winemaker choosing the grapes and using a special retro label that was like the style that he grew up with.
The wine was lovely. It is a very good representative of the meaty style of Shiraz that Australian winemakers are so good at making. It’s a huge red with a good balance, even tannins and acicity with a lovely smoky character. It’s a good wine with either red meat or mushrooms. Have plenty of water on hand because as Suw and I have found with so many Shiraz wines, it can leave your mouth a little dry. But a top bottle at a reasonable price.
A little Jack with that? 
Was 2008 a good year for this Tyrrell’s Shiraz? or would you have waited a couple more years? here it is 3-4 years later from your tasting and i’m contemplating busting it out.
It was really quite good, but then I’m a fan of big reds so therefore a fan of Aussie Shiraz. Our favourite is D’Arenberg’s Dead Arm, but that’s one for cellaring. It’s so big. We don’t really have the best conditions for keeping wine around for long.
One tip, for wines this big, they really do benefit being in a decanter and breathing a bit. They really open up. Let me know how find the wine.