2019 Shiraz Art Series

20% whole bunches. Bottled mid November 2020. Very deep crimson. Leathery tannins and saline. Clever but youthful. Very polished. Dry end and very vigorous. More concentrated than the Siblings Shiraz and will surely have a longer life. (JR)

Shiraz is on the move in Margaret River as evidenced by this delightful release from the 2019 Art Series. It offers up sensational aromas of mulberry, blackberry, clove and white pepper with some stalky notes providing a tantalising start. There is plenty of fleshy fruit flavour as well with jube and fruits pastilles with a dusting of toasted cloves. A supple finish only adds to immediate drinkability as does fine length.

98% Shiraz, 2% Malbec. Wiunemaker Tim Lovett finds that Shiraz can be lifted by a small amount of Malbec. Fruit was fermented in both open and closed fermenters, with 20% whole-bunch Shiraz to enhance vibrancy and lift. Malolactic fermentation took place in new, one- and two-year-old French oak barrels, with maturation in barrel for eighteen months. The Malbec was both fermented and matured in barrel separately, and added at the final blending stage. This smells so good: fresh black pepper (so fresh it’s like peppercorns straight from the drying mats). Deep, delicious, meaty sweet fruit. Violets, daphne with a blue-purple-fruited lusciousness and yet the wine is, at the same time, dry and savoury. Grounded yet ethereal. Determined yet open. Muscled tight yet fluid. Extraordinary ying-yang balance of opposite but complementary forces. (TC)