Robert Oatley Limited Release Barossa Shiraz 2018

Always fascinating to compare the same wine from different vintages and the release of these two Barossa Shiraz, from 2017 and this one from 2018, allow us to do just that. As thoroughly impressive as the 2017 is, this wine wins hands down. But then, with 2018 such a superb vintage for the region, that is exactly what you’d expect. The sources of fruit for this wine, and the techniques employed by Larry Cherubino to make it, are the same for both vintages (a mix of vineyards from both the Barossa and Eden Valleys with vines ranging between twenty and sixty years of age, open fermented on skins for 4-6 weeks, and then aged in a mix of new and one-year-old tight-grained, low toast French oak barriques). 

The wine is black/purple in colour. There is a gloriously decadent nose, plush with black fruits, black olives and chocolate. Finely balanced with serious concentration, a joy now but if you have good cellaring conditions, twenty years will be a doddle. Seamless, with an ideal acid/fruit balance, velvety tannins and great length, this is a superb Shiraz from a top year. It just oozes chocolate and class.