After Five Wine Co. Montepulciano 2020

Fruit for Purple Hands alternatives is sourced from winemaker Craig Stansborough’s vineyard that sits at the southern end of the Barossa. Goodness they get a lot in here for 13.5%. While there’s definitive regional characters, it’s chocked with plump chary, burnt-ends meatiness under globs of black plums, blueberries, blackberries and fragrant dried kitchen herbs. Palate is firm and drying, balanced by ripe fruit. Punchy acidity shares equal billing with grippy, fine tannin. Let me stand next to the spit roast lamb with a glass of this in hand and pick at sweet, crispy flesh.

Regan Drew

Regan is a regular wine columnist for the News Regional Media "Weekend" Magazine and digital "Life" sections. A graduate of the Australian Wine Research Institute's Advanced Wine Assessment Course #47 he was awarded with Distinction WSET Level 3 in Wine & Spirits, has been an Associate Judge for the New South Wine Awards plus a couple of little stints helping out in the Hunter Valley and Tasmania during vintages with small but quality winemakers.