Marius 2006 Symposium Reviews

Philip White – The Independent Weekly – 22^nd March 2008:

The 2009 Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide - Nick Stock

Wow, this is a dark modern wine with plenty of brooding mourvedre fruits, shiraz's dark spiced plums and savoury/earthy regional notes below.  Plenty of spice and richness, all balanced out neatly, plush even tannins, rich black fruit flavours ride on supple savoury tannins, finishing intense, long and fine.  93 points.

Selector magazine - Winter 2009:

The kind of wine that deserves to be poured into the biggest glass you have.  Nice clip of oak, nice sweet, musky, cherry-plummed flavour.  Subtle leatheriness/tarriness and a clean, refreshing, satisfying finish.  A gorgeous example of a new-ish blend.

"Just as the Australian food landscape was once dominated by the tastes of the English and the French - before Italian, Greek, various Asian and Middle-Eastern influences steadily made Australia's food landscape  both richer and better - Australian wine too has expanded its range of flavours and influences, but for all its quirks the aim still is to make wine that tastes, simply, darn good.  Maybe it'll taste spicier or more savoury or drier or even lighter - but the aim is, according to the wines that various winemakers recommended, that wine not become too clever for itself, and that deliciousness become paramount.

The perfect example?  Marius Symposium Shiraz Mourvedre 2006 - chosen by Michael Fragos, the head winemaker at Chapel Hill.  Here's a wine that is a bit different, because of its spicy, leathery, violet-like flavours, and yet it still manages to be supple and friendly and blessedly ripe - in short, a fabulous drink.  It's easy to say why Fragos chose it - it screams its McLaren Vale origins, and yet it's both distinct and delicious at the same time.  When assessing the State of Play of Australian wine, a wine like this makes you see clearly that financial times may well be tough, but there's nothing at all wrong with the health of Australian wine quality.  The word thrilling comes to mind.  No wonder it's so easy to have such fun with Aussie red wine now."       -   Campbell Mattinson - Selector Magazine - May 2009

Wine Business Magazine - WBM 100 - December '07 - Nick Stock

Marius Symposium Shiraz Mourvedre

A terrific little blended red from McLaren Vale, mixing the best of each variety deeply together.  Plenty of dark spice and earthy sweet aromas, it's neatly assembled plush black fruits ride high on ripe supple tannins.  92 points.

Adelaide Review/Nick Stock/John Duval - "Hot 100"

"These wines are simply the best of the best, South Australia's greatest and wines to be truly proud of."

Marius Symposium Shiraz Mourvedre 2006

A happy discovery of the HOT 100 tasting marathon, this is still raw and youthful but will settle down fast.  Plenty of dark spice, warm earthy aromas and black fruits.  Made with a modern eye, the palate is complex and taut, with plush fruit richness.

Ric Einstein of Torbwine:

Marius 2006 Symposium Nov 07

A Shiraz Mourvedre blend sealed under screwcap; this is the second time I have tried this wine in a short period. The first was just after bottling and it did not show well, but thankfully this time it was significantly better. The bouquet is meaty but also shows mint spectrum characters. A muscular-weight, firm, tight wine; it’s solidly backed by smooth, silky, dusty tannins and fresh acid, which are perfectly balanced to the pure fruit. The uptake is black, with roast meats, blackberry, coffee, char, plum/cherry with mint and herbs; the finish is firm, long, dry, fresh and persistent. It looked significantly better a day later which bodes well for its future. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for vale; drink over the next 10 years, but if it’s soon, it needs a big decant. Sealed under screwcap, its sells for $30 direct from the winery.

Copyright © Ric Einstein 2007