Errázuriz Aconcagua Costa Single Vineyard Syrah 2010, Chile (£19.99 Averys)
Full bodied style, quite aromatic with notes of sage-tinted sausage meat and lavender, but there’s that tell-tale reduced blackcurrant pastille feel, and the finish is rather dry and lacking charm. B

Wakefield Jaraman Shiraz 2009, Clare Valley/McLaren Vale, Australia (£16.99 Victor Hugo Wines, Penistone Court Cellars, Slurp.co.uk)
Big, honest berry and mint/eucalyptus flavoured wine with a coconutty oak sheen and a hearty, liquorice-tinged finish. Tasty, but feels like last year’s wine. B(+)

Mount Langi Ghiran Billi Billi Shiraz 2008, Grampians, Australia (£8.95 The Wine Society)
I like the slightly leathery plum and damson fruit, and the notes of mint and black pepper, but overall this is just a bit too rounded and fleshy. As above, honest and tasty, but needs some finesse. B+
(link to the Mount Langi website a bit iffy at the time of writing…)

The John Forrest Collection Syrah 2007, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (£21 Adnams)
Curate’s egg of a wine. I like the brooding dark fruit intensity and notes of black pepper, but there’s also a baked character that speaks of slightly raisinned fruit. However, the loudest flavour is smoky bacon-flavoured oak – do Bacon Fries still exist? – which even two days after opening still dominates the wine. B+