Byron and Harold The Protocol Shiraz 2020
- 92
- $55
- Drink by: 2022-2028
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Shiraz may take second place to Cabernet Sauvignon when it comes it the pantheon of Margaret River reds, but this suggest that it deserves better. Delicious stuff. Fermentation included a high percentage of whole berries with twice daily pumping over before transfer to barrel for malo and then maturation. Maroon/purple, there are notes of black cherries, raspberries, coffee beans, spices, mocha and licorice – perhaps more in the red fruit spectrum than the dark with some warm earth tones underneath. With juicy acidity and soft tannins, this is a wine which lingers beautifully and is a very fine example of what Shiraz can achieve in Margaret River. It should drink well for at least the next six years.
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.
