Altera Terra Shiraz 2021

Winemaker, Doug Neal, had some big decisions to make in the lead up to the 2021 vintage after torrential rains affected the Shiraz and Pinot Noir crops in Murrumbateman. What to do? The answer lay in a multi-regional blend of McLaren Vale, Murrumbateman with a smidge of Pinot Noir (3%) from the Macedon Ranges. The latter a classic Hunter Valley addition to Shiraz. He may have to keep to that sourcing in the future, given the beauty achieved in his new creation which offers immediate approachability while retaining impressive intensity.

A meld of all of the essential elements of Shiraz from stewed plum and blackberry fruit richness, chocolate, anise and earth to the fine thread of Aussie bush scents and flavours – sage, thyme, fennel, pepper – you have a complex wine. As an oak importer, Neal is fastidious about the integration of oak and texture in the wine. Interesting to see what 3% of whole bunch Pinot Noir does to the blend in raising its varietal partner to a higher, more aromatic and finer plane.