Artisans of Barossa ‘Small Batch’ Shiraz 2018

You can view this wine as a singular entity and be pretty happy in the drinking, but if you can, buy it as a double act with the Artisans of Barossa 2018 Barrel Blend Shiraz – the contrast is quite absorbing.

This wine comes from the hands of just one of the Artisans crew, Corey Ryan, who has created a 60:40 blend from a western ridge vineyard and an Eden Valley block. Bringing the east-west extremities together makes perfectly good sense, Corey reckons, both as an intellectual exercise as well as in the tasting.

The first impression here is classical Barossan rich crimson to purple plummy fruits and sweetly spiced French oak, which, by the way, comes to the party via 15 months in new hogshead barrels.  Yet this does not overwhelm the wine in any way. Elements rise and fall, weave and untangle as you smell and sip, revealing sweet, smooth, creamy milk chocolate notes, perhaps choc-licorice bullets and soft blackberry gels, all of which find a balancing point towards the finish, the fruits and oak feel eventually in alliance. A mighty fine drink true to the variety and the region. 

Get wines from the Artisans here.