As noted earlier in our musings, we had a fantastic experience with the West Cape Howe, 2005 Two Steps Shiraz/Viognier blend. However, I was initially a bit hesitant to purchase a bottle of it because of a bad previous experience with a similar blend.
The Black Chook is a Shiraz/Viognier blend (95%/5% respectively) from the Langhorne Creek region of South Australia. The 2005 vintage received very high ratings from Robert Parker (91 points in The Wine Advocate) and Josh Raynolds (90 points in International Wine Cellar). For this reason, I had very high expectations when I purchased this bottle back in July. In early August, we took it up to Pennsylvania with us and attempted to enjoy it as part of a relaxing evening with my brother.
Unfortunately, we were quite disappointed with the wine. We rated the aroma a D, due to the overwhelming scent of formaldehyde, which hid the little bits of cherry and other berries that fought to make themselves noticeable. We rated the taste a C, as the formaldehyde scent continued to overwhelm the berry flavors that could have been much more appreciated. The wine was more drinkable than the scent initially led on, but even so it rated an overall C-.
As a concluding note, this wine had a screw cap, as did the West Cape Howe Two Steps. We have since learned that while screw caps are becoming increasingly acceptable for quality wines (and indeed, the Two Steps was excellent), they can occasionally have a weird oxidizing effect which can give a wine a strong chemical aroma and flavor. For this reason, combined with the high ratings from some of the renowned tasters, we are open to believing that we simply got a bad bottle of this wine. It happens. Upon drinking it, we were not remotely interested in buying this wine again. But having learned about the wine and the rare, but possible, effects of screw-capped wines, we'd be open to trying another bottle of this some day.
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