Shiraz
2020
Shaw + Smith winery was founded in 1989 by Michael Hill Smith and Martin Shaw with the goal of producing elegant, refined, world class wines from the cool climate Adelaide hills region of Australia. That Shaw + Smith have succeeded in spades should come as no surprise given the resumes of the winery's two founders. Michael Hill Smith was born into wine, a member of the Yalumba family. A Cordon Bleu trained chef, wine writer, wine judge, and Australia's first Master of Wine he relished the...
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A medium-bodied red, demonstrating the beauty in balance over power. Fresh red berries including raspberry and blueberry are flavoured with notes of clove and black pepper. The palate is long and layered with elegantly fine grained tannins. Pair it with a wagyu burger with bacon, gruyere cheese and pickle.
Beware the siren with the ruby-red lips. In a smoky room, here she strides – confident, cool, arresting. Slender, stalky cherry and a smear of blackcurrant bite, spiked with crushed peppercorns. No sunny smiles here, this is deadly serious. Leaner, finer and taut, it marks a big stride ahead from previous vintages. This vision of cool-climate Shiraz marks a new age of measured sophistication.
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A wine of towering richness and complexity, black cherries, licorice, black pepper. Close your eyes, and this shiraz will give you a magic carpet ride to the upper reaches of the Rhone Valley. Most remarkable is the freshness of the wine, and the dark spices of a night time drink.
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Vivid crimson; the fragrant array of black cherry, blackberry, spice and cracked pepper aromas feed into the beautifully textured and proportioned palate, where silky tannins provide perfect support and mouthfeel. A top notch successor to the acclaimed '12.
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Very complex and fragrant with a wealth of cherry, blackberry and spiced-plum aromas, framed in savory, graphite and toasted brown-spice notes. The depth and smoothly fleshy feel on the palate is seductive and the core of plums and blackberries slides into the finish on a bed of fine, suavely polished tannin. Still very upbeat and fresh.
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Very attractive blueberries and dark plums here with earthy and spicy aromas, as well as black pepper. The palate is filled with fleshy fruit and has dark-cherry, cherry-liqueur and dark-chocolate flavors in abundance. Long flavors, plush smooth tannins and certainly a richer iteration of this wine. Drink or hold. Screw cap.
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Elegant Shiraz is often code for a modest, subdued wine, but in this instance it’s about capturing harmony and balance. Bright flavour is smartly contained within a seamless body, carefully made to measure. A clean acid line down the spine ensures that no jagged edges poke out. Dark plum and cherry notes flit amongst the blackberry and rhubarb. It’s a smooth, confident customer
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Lovely crunchy fruit to this, with spice and dried-meat undertones through the wine, from the nose to the palate. Medium body, fine tannins and a fresh and vivid finish. Tangy and bright.
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Leaner, lighter and fresher than what I recall, although picked later than usual. A cool and attenuated year, more Euro of styling, the platform. Real vibrato! Satsuma plum, lilac, Bing cherry, star anise and clove meld with white pepper, cedar and vanillin-framed tannins that drive proceedings long. Savvy bunch and oak assemblage confer poise and authority. Classy, while needing time to shed the oak cladding.
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The 2021 Shiraz is ever the silky, svelte wine, never more than in this elegant, restrained vintage. It has cool, mineral detail overlaid by bright blue fruits and exotic spice. The tannins are very fine and serve to shape the fruit rather than intrude. It is perfumed, supple and seamless. It has by far the best concentration and complexity of all the vintages tasted here today (2015-2021). It has notes of raspberry, mulberry, licorice, beetroot, cranberry and redcurrant as well as white pepper, clove and star anise. Lovely wine here! It has sweet oak and is perfumed and shapely. Good!
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