2020 Hickinbotham Wines Cabernet/Shiraz The Peake Clarendon Vineyard
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The 2020 The Peake Cabernet Shiraz was picked right before the last of the COVID-19 lockdowns and shutdowns in South Australia, and winemaker Chris Carpenter was able to pick the last of the fruit before he returned to the United States on the last flight out of Australia. We may forget how intense this year was in the context of wine—it was the year the world was turned upside down, and it will forever be a vintage of profound impact, much in the same way as the war years throughout Europe in the early and middle 20th century. The blend contains 52% Cabernet Sauvignon this year—the lowest volume of Cabernet that this wine has ever experienced—and the balance Shiraz. Aromatically, the wine is fresh and leads with dark fruit and spice, chocolate and Christmas cake spices, raspberry seed and tapenade. It is superb. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
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James Suckling
Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
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A fascinating Cabernet/Shiraz blend, the 2020 The Peake comes from some of the highest vineyards in McLaren Vale. This wine offers excellent purity with blackberry, cassis and clove-scented fruits backed by a generous serving of high-quality oak. A beautifully vibrant palate follows, radiating with dark berry fruits that are kept in check by manicured tannins and deliver a long, flowing finish.
This has an open and polished nose of black cherries, blueberries, olives, mint chocolate, rosemary and nutmeg. Bright and silky with fine yet firm tannins wrapping a textured, creamy core of fresh and spiced black fruit. All interwoven. 52% cabernet sauvignon and 48% shiraz. Already drinkable, but better from 2025. Screw cap.