Hardys HRB Shiraz 2018

The HRB range (Heritage Reserve Bin) is a display in the art of blending regions within a varietal spectrum, here a trio of sources – McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and Frankland River – all of which give their best in such a team effort. Rich and concentrated in style with crimson to black fruits and dark chocolate licorice bullets driving the flavours, though redder fruits do have an occasional burst of energy in the mouth. There’s a note of ground pepper too, courtesy of its two cooler regions, and a suggestion of darker baking spices which also help to give a sense of dusting in the texturals, tannins drying in the finish. A solid expression.