Wood have been better if…

McGuigan Reserve Shiraz 2012, South Australia (£9.99 Sainsbury’s, Morrisons)
Starts off well with aromas of berry fruit, leather and liquorice, but there’s also a whiff of smoky bacon-tinged oak. And then when you come to taste it, that oak and its drying tannins is just a bit too prominent initially, pushing the gentle plum and berry flavours aside. It does improve with time, so it’s worth decanting, but it could have been even better – longer time in older oak needed rather than shorter time in newer oak. B-