2011 Thorn-Clarke "Shotfire" SHIRAZ (Barossa Valley, Australia)

This had everything in beautiful balance.  Nice body and concentration.  Velvety texture.  Nose had swirling mixture of smoke, gravelly minerals, gorgeous dark berry fruit, and a meaty element.  Deep flavors of iodiney/minerally blackberry extract.  A saline element in the finish, which is long.  Not overripe or hot, as many Aussie Shirazes can be.  Really fine.  A-.  Was about $15 at Total Wine in Fairfax.  Drink over the next two years.

(Sorry, 2009 shown.)

Ask someone who's been a wine geek since before MTV was a channel. Global warming is real.

Bordeaux, Rhones, and Piemonte reds, on average, are 1%-1.5% higher in alcohol than they were in the 60s and 70s.  And that, along with the trend toward more "international"-style winemaking, makes them less interesting.  On the plus side, red Loire wines are better than they used to be,  More frequently than not in the old days, they were unripe and sucked.  Now, much better.

That is all.