Seppelt Benno Bendigo Shiraz 2003

Made by Seppelt in Australia (region: Bendigo) .

A dry, still, red wine with 13.5% alchohol tasted on 18th May 2008.

Grape: Shiraz

Quality: Good

Value: Ouch!

Cost: Usually between $39.99 - $52.99.

Looks: Good dark purple colour, with a lot of extraction - colour sticks with each swirl. Medium to full bodied.

Smells: A little closed at first - black berry and red berry mix with some pepper tones

Feels: Medium to full bodied

Tastes: Wine lovers talk a lot about Seppelt St Peters, Great Western and Mount Ida Shiraz. Benno is less spoken about - which from this I can see a little why. It sits in the middle of styles between Mount Ida and St Peters - almost the same weight, finesse and acidity as St Peters (well, slightly heavier) and with a lot of the black fruit tones and even the slight greenness of the Mount Ida. It does have its own style - it just eerily is in the middle between its cousins. The Benno is a nice drop in its own right - and I would choose it over the Mount Ida 04. But the St Pepters for only a slight amount more? Well, I know where my money would be heading.

Possible retailers: Vintage Cellars, Dan Murphy's, Kemeny's, Winestar.