Dandelion Lion’s Den of McLaren Vale Shiraz 2018
- 93
- $30
- Drink by: 2022-2027
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Elena and her team always source the grapes for this wine from a single vineyard in the foothills of McLaren Vale. The fruit is gently crushed into open top fermenters for a twelve-day fermentation before basket pressing into a mix of new and older French Oak barriques, where it spends the next 20 months. The colour here is a deep, dark red. There is great intensity on the nose with notes of cloves, dry herbs, leather and a lovely character reminiscent of dried Christmas cake fruit. This is ripe and generous with good focus, silky tannins and excellent length – the complete package. This has an exciting future and will surely score even higher in five 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.
