Haselgrove Dileab Shiraz 2019
- 96
- $100
- Drink by: 2023 - 2035
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The trend to use weird and wonderful names for wines is showing no sign of easing – suggesting that my doubts as to its possible success are well off the mark. ‘Dileab’ means ‘heritage’ in Celtic. I guess as good a name as any for the wine. 12,018 bottles made and this is one you do not want to miss. If plush, joyful McLaren Vale reds are your thing, do not hesitate.
Haselgrove is a famous name in McLaren Vale wine – indeed, a famous name in Australian wine – and while they seem to drift in and out of the winelovers’ eye, if this is an indication of what they intend to offer us, welcome back to the spotlight.
This wine is made from grapes sourced from top sites around the best sub-districts of McLaren Vale and then spent 18 to 24 months in French and American oak (yes, one would assume that notes on the wine would be able to get a smidge closer to the exact period but it hardly matters). An inky black purple colour. Aromas of chocolate and cassis, aniseed and blackberries, licorice and tar. Seamless, big, bold and welcoming. Classic McLaren Vale. Juicy and generous. Great length here, through to satiny tannins. A cracker.
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.
