This wine has been stripped back from the artifice of winemaking to express the purity and breadth of McLaren Vale Shiraz. A deep well of dark flavours: Iodine, umami, soy, tar, Chambord liqueur, and boysenberry swirl followed by terracotta and sandalwood. The fruit sits happily inside the earth and forest flavours.
Slippery and slurpy, glides along the palate offering a warm embrace along the way. A bay leaf crunch accentuates the tannins making way for a fruity finish.
"Pannell's McLaren shiraz is a dark and sumptuous wine, richly fruity and spicy, showing brilliant purity and clarity, nothing muddled or oxi-reductive, hitting a fine span of aromatics straight down the middle. Tannins are broad and plush and acids low, which, coupled with 15+% alcohol, makes for a full-bodied, generous, round and smooth texture, warm on the long finish. There's notable salinity (McLaren Vale's high water table near the sea?) though it serves to sweeten the fruit further. Bold and voluptuous; drink or hold to the end of the decade." Tasted September 2024.
92 points, John Szabo, MS, Wine Align
