Cape D'Estaing, Admiral's Reserve, Shiraz

The 1998 Shiraz Admiral's Reserve is essentially a 125-case batch selected in the cellar from all the barrels of Shiraz. The wine has an opaque purple color and a sweet nose of blackberry liqueur intermixed with road tar, new saddle leather, pepper, and spice. Full-bodied, rich, structured, and backward, this impressive, large-scaled wine admirably marries a degree of finesse with the boldly flavored, big style favored by Australians. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2016.
Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, June 2001.

I cannot believe there has ever been a wine from Kangaroo Island as spectacular as the 2001 Shiraz Admiral’s Reserve. Sadly, there are only four barrels (100 cases) of this sensational effort, a tribute to the proprietors and their winemaker, Robin Moody. It spent 22 months in French oak, and tastes like a great Bordeaux classified growth. A tremendously opaque purple color accompanies the big, sweet nose of lead pencil shavings, black currants, minerals, and sweet yet subtle toasty oak. Medium to full-bodied and extremely well-delineated, with moderately high tannin, a touch of austerity, tremendous mid-palate depth, and a finish that lasts over 60 seconds, this stunning, remarkably elegant Shiraz should be given 2-3 years of bottle age, and enjoyed over the following 10-12. Bravo! Having been to the magical Kangaroo Island off the coast of Adelaide and spending nearly three days immersed in this wildlife paradise, seemingly over-run with koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, and enormous seal colonies, it is somewhat unexpected to find such impressive wines from this windswept, stark island. Both 1999 and 2000 were challenging vintages for Cape d’Estaing, but they have hit the proverbial home run in 2001.