Elephant in the Room Shiraz 2021

A squat bottle, curious name and terrific label ensure that this wine is bound to catch the eye. The name comes from the fact that so often wine snobs will turn their collective noses up at styles of wines that are public favourites (no doubt the same happens with art, music and so on). To be honest, I’m not all that certain that too many of the wine geeks really are dissing on Barossa Shiraz (and if they are, I still reckon that most of them would enjoy a bottle or two in private) but no matter. I’m all in favour of whatever gets winelovers drinking more of the stuff. The fruit here is destemmed before undergoing a cool fermentation in open fermenters with consistent hand-plunging. Maturation is for six months in a mix of small new (20%) and older French oak.

Inky black/purple, the wine is indeed as advertised – which apparently means wine geeks can stay away but everyone else should load up – big and bold, jampacked with fruit and flavour. We have saturated blackberry notes, plums, chocolate and a hint of vanilla plus an appealing creamy texture. The palate is richly flavoured with more of the same, but toss in some dried fruit notes as well. This has a good six to eight years ahead of it. If you like the style, go big.