Upper Reach Reserve Shiraz

Easter Saturday, the Fremantle Dockers are playing the Sydney Swans in the Preliminary Final rematch weekend with Hawthorn and Geelong scheduled to play Easter Monday. A great time to open a good West Australian shiraz to complement what was expected to be a cracking game.

My father and I went to watch the last time these teams met at Subiaco oval, a ferocious attack by Fremantle saw the most sustained pressure applied in a game of Australian Rules Football. A 2009 Upper Reach Reserve Shiraz was in my sights, a tight and hard game of Australian Rules football awaited me, the game whilst exciting didn't end with the result I wished for - oh well.

Cracking the top off the bottle, the aroma immediately wafted from the bottle filling the kitchen. As the deep purple hue washed into my quickly filling tasting glass, the complex spicy aroma gave way to temptation and I probably didn't let this wine breathe as long as it should, the game was starting and I was in a rush. No worries though for a wine with 5 years of aging. 

The robust flavours of deep cherry, dark chocolate overtures held together with fine but no overpowering oak made my afternoon memorable, tannin structure was soft, as expected for a shiraz with 4 - 5 years of bottle aging. While this would be an excellent wine to enjoy with friends and family, I enjoyed following the game drinking solo, I have a couple more bottles left in the cellar, will be sharing around next time.

As it was, Sydney won the hard fought battle leaving the team with a little soul searching with a poor second quarter, as for myself, this excellent wine took the edge off the loss. The pressure and application of the 2013 Fremantle side was sadly lacking in the 2014 team, however, 2014 was a good time to be cracking open an outstanding Swan Valley shiraz.