Deep garnet colored, 1997 Randall’s Hill Shiraz offers notes of warm mulberries, figs, sandalwood, cinnamon stick, cloves, underbrush, tree bark and black truffles. Decadently full bodied, rich and dense, it has just enough refreshing acidity and a medium to high level of velvety tannins to support. The finish is long and layered of baking spices and dried fruits. Drinking beautifully now, it should continue at this plateau for another 6 to 8 years+. Chris Ringland didn’t feel his 2005 Shiraz was ready to show to me in November 2010 and is focusing on selling his current releases, the 2003 and 2004 vintages. That it’s been a difficult year for high-end Barossa Shiraz is something of an understatement, but it seems to me that Ringland has adopted a good course of action. Taking matters into his own hands, he’s getting closer to his consumers by hand-selling his wines and spending time doing tastings and winemakers dinners in his markets. So while I don’t have a tasting note for the next vintage out of the box, I thought I’d contribute a couple of notes of older vintages. The 1996 Three Rivers Shiraz was tasted at the Landmark Tutorial in the Yarra in September 2010 while the 1997 Randall’s Hill was tasted during my meeting with Ringland in Singapore in November 2010.