Curtis Small Batch Shiraz McLaren Vale 2021
- 94
- $80
- Drink by: 2023-2038
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The Shiraz here has received the same treatment as that used in the Grenache Shiraz blend – from 80-year-old vines, destemmed, two weeks cold-soaking, a further two weeks fermentation in a mix of new and two-year-old American oak barrels. Dark maroon hue. This is as good as one would hope for an old vine Shiraz from McLaren Vale from a cracking year. For all those who love this style of wine, and isn’t that almost all of us, this is a must try. Coiled power here – mocha, coffee beans, truffles, dry herbs, black fruits, licorice, beef stock and cloves. Fine balance, generous fruit, silky tannins and very good oak integration too. The flavours might be a fraction upfront if one was to be hypercritical. It might be a cliché but this really does tick all the boxes. Drink for eight to fifteen years plus.
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.
