Shaw & Smith Balhannah Shiraz 2023

Shaw & Smith Balhannah Shiraz 2023

From close-planted (5,500 vines/hectare) low yielding vines from block two at Shaw + Smith’s Balhannah Vineyard, planted in 2005. It has a north-facing aspect and the soils are loam over clay, ironstone, quartzite, and shale. Hand-picked and hand sorted. Aged for 14 months in 500 to 600 litre French oak barrels, 15% new, followed by a further 14 months in bottle.

Blackberry, plum, grilled meat, a char siu pork thing here, plenty of spice and pepper, brazil nuts, dried flowers. It’s medium-bodied, distinctly saline and savoury, black olive rolled in dried herbs, meaty too, has a mix of red and black fruits, a grainy sort of sooty feel to tannin, a boysenberry freshness to acidity, with a nutty and spicy finish of excellent length, pulling quite dry and grainy to close, with a light amaro bitterness and subtle rubbery reduction. A very adult style of Shiraz, also quite charismatic with it. Very good. 95 Points - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

This is a wine of power and darkness and yet it remains elegant and, indeed, exquisite. It tastes of walnuts and plums, smoked meats, barbecued black cherries, cedar, dark soy, peppercorn and cocoa, and while there’s a boldness in play all these flavours are relayed in intimate, interwoven detail. There’s a logic to everything here; a motivation to the way each flavour bounces from one to the next. This impression is aided by the svelte, luxury nature of the texture. This is an elite wine. It’s complex, it’s seductive, and it’s compelling. 96 Points - Campbell Mattinson, Campbellmattinson.com