Backline Wines ‘Block Raiders’ Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2018
- 92
- $25
- Drink by: 2020 - 2030
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‘Block Raiders’ might have seemed a curious name for a wine. Apparently it pays homage to one of the plays the trio would run with the Wallabies (perhaps they could pass it on to the current mob). It is also a nod to the way they have ‘raided’ some of the Langhorne Creek’s best blocks of Shiraz to create this wine.
This is soft and plush, with the region’s typical generosity. Notes of mulberries and chocolate in a ripe vein. There is a gentle fade with some very fine, cashmere-like tannins on the finish. Nicely balanced to drink now or any time over the next decade.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
