Hewitson LuLu Shiraz 2020

From the Church Road Block in the Barossa, this is from vines some twenty years of age. The 2020 vintage has had some mixed reports, which seems unfair as there are many really good wines coming from it. What we have seen are wines which are perhaps a little more concentrated, powerful and even burly in comparison to some years. Nothing wrong with that. I suspect that many will last for a very long time in the cellar and perhaps the vintage will be re-evaluated in the years to come. If you are looking for quality reds to cellar, don’t ignore this vintage. And when a wine is such great value, why wouldn’t you want to squirrel away a few cases? This wine saw a mix of both whole bunches and crushed grapes, spending two weeks on skins before fifteen months in older French oak barrels. Opaque purple, this is tense and taut with notes of licorice, warm earth, chocolate, charcuterie and game. Quite a muscular style (very ’20), with abundant tannins. I’d be leaving it for at least two to three years before looking to open any, but then it will drink very well over the next ten to twelve. A powerful Barossa Shiraz (which seems odd for a wine called LuLu).