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Torbreck Vintners


Joe Riley

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David Powell is a great wine maker (and a hell of a drinker -- as one would expect of a former lumberjack). His wines are big, but these wines have more elegance than most of the BIG Australians. I am not sure how the 04 stacks up against the 03, but if it is in the same ball park I would be excited about it as well. I understand that the Sage of Monkton gave the 04 a 99+ rating.

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My supplier is all nervous, anxious, excited and agog about these, so I ordered some in:

Torbreck Run "Rig" 2004

" " "Descendant" 2005

" " "Factor" 2005

These are apparently very limited and in high demand. If anyone is interested in some, please inquire.

Joe, just for yucks, why don't you include the prices? ;-)

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Have a few in the celler and bought more after a freind did a tasing with Jon Elkins at the Monterey St Wine Company in Cali and the advocate article. I am sure I overpaid, as usual. We are splitting the case with the cost coming in at under $1700 for the case. My friend is in the business and got a slight discount.

I would be intested in picking up more, what are the prices ?

If you got a case of the Run Rig or Descendant for that you got a good deal (the prices I have seen has the new Run Rig at around $2200 per case). Now if that was a case of Factor, you did over pay.
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Joe, just for yucks, why don't you include the prices? ;-)

Ehhh, that kind of runs counter to my policy re: this board. I'm not the only retailer on here, I don't want to start any kind of price-war. I feel guilty enough with this sort-of "pseudo" advertising, but I like to bring certain items to the attention of the people here as a courtesy, to let people here know that certain items are available that I think they might really be interested in. I'm happy to respond to inquiries, but I don't want to junk up Don's board with a bunch of price-posts. I'm happy to post general price inquiries, i.e., "Avondale Rosé is around $10", but to get into specifics is just setting myself up for misery. In this town, on any given day, anybody can beat anybody else's price on almost anything.

Having said all of that, the Rig is north of $200 and the Factor is north of $100. I believe the Descendent is as well.

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In the new Wine Advocate, which arrived two days ago:

2005 Torbreck The Descendant 97 points retail price $105

2005 The Factor 97 points retail price $110

2004 Run Rig 99+ points retail price $225

The reviews of these wines use descriptors like opulent, voluptouous in the mouth, layers of fruit, exotic perfume, complex array of lavender, violets, blueberry, blackberry, smoke, pepper, road tar ...etc. etc.

OMG. Gimme a taste, guys. Pretty please?

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I had the 04 Run Rig on Saturday and I was rather unimpressed. I tried it right next to the 03, and they could not have been more different. Both were fruity, but while the 03 had a nice balance of acid to play off of the sweetness, the 04 was flat. Frankly the 04 reminded me of cheap California merlot, all fruit no substance. The 05 Factor was a very nice wine, as was the 04 Les Amis (another Torbreck wine).

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I had the 04 Run Rig on Saturday and I was rather unimpressed. I tried it right next to the 03, and they could not have been more different. Both were fruity, but while the 03 had a nice balance of acid to play off of the sweetness, the 04 was flat. Frankly the 04 reminded me of cheap California merlot, all fruit no substance.

Is it possible the '04 was cooked or a bad bottle otherwise?

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Kind of a waste of 2 bottles IMO, not that I am a expert or anything, but I really think it needs more time, maybe upwards of another 3 to 4 years. I agree with advocates comments " Full-bodied and voluptuous in the mouth, the wine is dense and packed, with amazing purity, sweet tannins, and a complex collection of sensory stimuli. The wine demands 10 years of cellaring and will provide hedonistic delights through 2035+" I will amke a note to comment back on this in a few years when I start to crack them open.
The wines were opened as part of a tasting to get those attending to buy. I don't think that 10 years is going to suddenly give this wine the acid that it needs for balance. Your palette may enjoy it, mine didn't and I have had each of the Runrigs back to the original 1995's they have always been really big wines, but they have had balance that this one just didn’t have. If you like your Shiraz big, inky and fruit forward, you will indeed love this wine.
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