Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2006

Ok, so I'm already a little pissed from a lame sauvignon blanc we finished before dinner. But this wine is nice.

This wine's nose of violets, fake raspberry and licorice allsorts seems to me reminiscent of gamay. This wine is always a fragrant one, in my experience, and the 2006 continues the trend with an expressive nose that I understand best in terms of colour: it reminds me of vivid purple. There are also notes of citrus peel - again, fragrant and expressive.

On the palate, there's a gush of gently fruity flavour, perhaps a little unfocussed. Medium bodied, the wine's structure is relatively soft but well defined, the acidity in particular is quite mouthwatering.

This vintage seems more approchable than my recollection of prior years' wines, not that the Hilltops has ever struck me as especially forbidding when young. If the fruit flavour were more clearly delineated, this would have been even better. I have several bottles in the cellar and will track it with interest.