®                                       

Marius 2004 Symphony Reviews

James Halliday - Australian Wine Companion 2008:

Symphony Single Vineyard McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004:

Medium to full-bodied; dense, succulent, ripe blackberry fruit and dark-chocolate; excellent oak balance and integration; good tannins.  A special selection from the 1.8-ha. home block vineyard which provides both single vineyard wines.  Screwcap 14.5% alc.  Rating 94   Drink to 2019

Philip White  Adelaide Advertiser 17/05/06:

Marius Symphony McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004:    94 Points

Average for today's 63 bottles of shiraz?  76 points.  That's normal.  It takes a hundred bottles a week to find these four good' uns.  So this is special, see.  Exquisite.  Clean, fragrant, natural, intense, sensual, balanced.  Need more?  Willunga Piedmont; 1.6ha; bugger-all sprays or water; four picks per vintage, just to get every berry perfect.  Simple, fanatically straight winemaking.

Campbell Mattinson of Winefront:

Marius McLaren Vale Symphony Shiraz 2004 ($35) screwcap:

 The names of the two wines are a bit too similar for comfort, but the quality is right there: this builds delightfully in the glass, the soft, filligreed tannins gathering form and momentum the greater air they're given. The fruit is there to support them: fresh, blackberried, cedary and soft, a sense of dried oregano and olive leaves adding specific interest. Excellent. Drink: 2006-2013. 93 points.

Gary Walsh of Winorama: 

Marius 2004 Symphony Shiraz ($35):

 Darker and brighter than the Simpatico. Aromas of boysenberry/red berry/blackberry. A lovely compote of bright fruit really. Earth, spice and bayleaf backed up with a firm but well measured dose of tobacco and cedar oak. On the palate it is full bodied with flavours of fresh berry fruit, tobacco, earth and coffee. Excellent texture with mouthcoating creamy tannins and acidity that gives the wine vibrancy. Long tobacco and cherry flavoured finish. Would you believe that I left this wine in the fridge for four days and it is every bit as good as it was when first opened? Certainly one for the cellar.  Rated : 94 Points.  Drink : 2007 - 2014+

Philip White - 25/06/2010

Marius McLaren Vale Symphony Shiraz 2004
$35; 14% alcohol; screw cap; DRUNK 25JUN10; 95+++ points
By Bacchus and Pan this is a beautiful, transfixing thing. It has astonishing intensity, complexity, and austerity, with fruit so authoritative and dense that to be fair it deserves twelve hours in the decanter. All the black fruits and nightshade leaf and juniper are packed in so tight around a wall of rigid natural acidity that our table sat stunned in silence, staring disbelievingly into the kraters. It's surly and solid, with the frame of a thoroughbred, the determination of its staunch Roman namesake, and as much dry and dusty stone as the 26 mile crater of the same name in the Moon's second quadrant. It was probably a mercy that we took it the night before tonight's eclipse of the full Moon - something woulda fused in the cosmos. I am not old enough to have tasted the 1961 La Chappelle at six years of age, but I have drunk it mature on various occasions, twice from magnum, and consider this wine may well be its equal, given the right cellar and the owner's infinite patience. Like that wine, this seems somehow to have the structure of a mighty Bordeaux - it's about its shape, and that sinister lick of nightshade - but while the Chappelle was likened as a younger wine to the 61 Latour, this beauty seems a little more along the lines of St Emilion. I did drink the 78 Chappelle at six years, and think this could be better: it's more intense. Like both those wines, this is a serious thirty year job. I'm staggered.

Paul Ippolito:

Marius Symphony Shiraz 2004 28 March 2008

The Marius brand, the words single vineyard and the McLaren Vale region all taking pride of place on the front label are all pretty good indicators for a memorable drinking experience. Roger Pike from Marius makes very respectable reds. This is an excellent Shiraz from Marius’ four acre home block. Given the works through new tight French oak and barrel ageing of nearly 2 years, the resultant wine is a smooth integrated and balanced red of McLaren origins, and comes as no surprise in terms of its high quality. Dark berry fruits ooze from the aromas, tight then unwinding slowly and beautifully. Savoury dimensions ensue as does good coffee oak, essences of soy all marrying well with the fruit. A wine of substance, gravitas and along with a meatiness and fullness in mouthfeel yet also seamlessly long in finish. A long future ahead of it. Try with Wagyu beef.

Drink to 2024. About $35. 94/100 – Excellent.

The Penguin Good Australian WINE GUIDE 2007 - Ralph Kyte-Powell & Huon Hooke

Marius Symphony Single Vineyard McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004:

This is a shy young shiraz that took time to open up in the glass.  It's a more elegant wine than the Simpatico, but also reveals more body and richness, more fullness and length when you get to know it.  It is a beautifully balanced wine that should reward cellaring.  Then serve with an aged, hard cheese such as cheddar.  Points:  92     Cellar:  2-12+ years.

Winestate May/June 2006 Issue:

Marius Symphony Single Vineyard McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004:

Brooding, tarry nose and a fabulous palate with superb length. 

Some excellent and very serious oak here. $35  ¬¬¬¬

Ric Einstein of Torbwine:

Marius 2004 Symphony Shiraz sells for $35. The bouquet is brooding, closed and earthy. Deep, pure, persistent fruit combines with creamy, dusty tannins to form a muscular, ultra tight, very solid and well crafted wine that certainly makes one's senses sit up and take notice. Sweet fruit on the uptake with offsetting spices, there is nothing overripe or jammy about this one; black cherry, blackberry, dried herbs and chocolate flavours linger beautifully. The complexity is harmonious and well-developed already. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, the rating should improve as the wine matures around 2012+.