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By way of background: Alley Cat's Cat Amongst the Pigeons is a combination of 70% shiraz and 30% grenache from various Barossa Valley vineyards in the Western portion of the region. Some of the grenache vines were in excess of 100 years old. The 2006 vintage, now with a couple years in bottle, was finished at 15% alcohol, with approximately 30% aged in a combination of new and used barrels.
In the glass:This is deep purple/magenta, essentially opaque (though definitely not black, more dark red opaque) to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the glass.
On the nose: Poured without a decant at cool basement temperatures and swirled vigorously, Cat Amongst the Pigeons shows a nice dark cherry plus sweet earth combination on the nose.
On the palate:The first attack on the palate comes in two completely different directions; first, sweet cinnamon and cocoa layered with lavender sweeps across your tongue; but at the same time, bright lifted red fruits cascade across the roof of your mouth. Outstanding combination of earth, fire and sky - with black cherry, earth, mild charcoal dust down below; and red cherries up top.
And the finish: Long, cherry liqueur-like finish... helped along - but not overpowered - by the high alcohol.
In summary: Powerful experience overall, full-frontal with nice background elements too. I'd completely hang with this for an evening, yielding four stars on the five-star
Spirit of Wine scale. This is an awesome value.
Wine Advocate awarded a hefty 91 points, writing that Cat Amongst the Pigeons Shiraz/Grenache, "is deeply colored with a complex array of scorched earth, kirsch, black cherry and blueberry aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, supple-textured, and built for pleasure, this tasty wine has terrific depth and length. Drink it over the next 4-6 years."
Find Cat Amongst the Pigeons at WineZap.
In the glass, it shows as a very deep magenta. On the nose, it shows a dark, brooding, charred grapes quality.
The palate comes across as both sweet and charcoal, bringing lightly sweetened, blackened plum fruit up into the sides of your mouth. Fat finish, moving to alcohol. Three stars out of five. At price, makes it an outstanding value.
