Tasting notes:

Another top-quality wine from Philip Shaw’s New South Wales vineyards. The ‘Hoo’ is Shaw himself, and the ‘Egg’ is the no longer recent adventure he undertook near Orange after semi retirement from large company winemaking. Still very youthful and deep purple in colour, the wine has dark, plummy fruit, with chocolate and roasted coffee beans, indicating a little development. The full-bodied palate has intense flavours balanced by lively acidity and velvet-textured tannins, accented by mixed peppercorns, allspice and cinnamon. Integrated with a long finish, this is a wine to pair with roast goose at Christmas or, anytime else, with roast duck in a cherries and Port wine sauce. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)