Leon,

What you have is a one-of-a-kind example of Terroir. The smokey nose you
refer to is actually the expression of the specific locale where the
grapes were grown, and may not be repeated in the forseeable future, so
it's a rare attribute, and should be a much sought after vintage!

Seriously, it's not likely that you can do much to eliminate the
smokiness without diminishing the other positive flavors & aromas, but
take heart in what happened to a friend of mine:

He's a commercial grower/maker who maqde the mistake of leaving a batch
of Cab franc in new barrels for too long. The result was probably a lot
like your Shiraz, way too smokey (& oakey).

He brought a bunch of it along to a wine festival, but didn't have much
hope in selling it. My wife & I, who were pouring samples for him,
dceided to this wine's defect into a highlight. We explained to tasters
the "smokey, oakey nuance" of this wine which was "aged extensively in
new French oak barrels. You can actually taste the toasted oak." People
found the taste, and understood it (and thought we did it on purpose),
and loved it. They bought it by the case, and it sold out on the first
day. It was such a hit that a couple of people asked for it in
subsequent years.

Did we con the people into buying inferior wine? Not at all. We just
explained the wine so they could appreciate it, and they were quite
happy with the experience once they knew what it was. I suspect the
quality of your Shiraz is not so much a matter of being defective, as it
is a matter of letting the wine tell its story. People love a story.

After all, if the French can view Brettanomyces as "adding complexity",
what's a little smokiness in a good Aussie Shiraz?

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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