Hickinbotham Brooks Road Shiraz 2020
- 96
- $75
- Drink by: 2022-2032
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Named after the road where the vineyard is located in McLaren Vale, the various blocks which provide the grapes for this wine were planted between 1971 and 2002. Unirrigated, the grapes are hand-harvested and the yields are seriously low. 30% destemmed, 20% whole bunch and the remainder crushed to open top fermenters, the wine spent around 20 days on skins, before being drained directly to barrels – 1/3rd new French oak puncheons with the lees, the rest one or two years of age, for ten months. After blending, the wine was returned to older foudre and a concrete egg for a further 8 months. The result is a wine which is opaque purple. We have deep perfumes here; plums, chocolate, mocha and mulberries. There is nicely integrated oak and we see the arrival of blueberry notes. This is utterly delicious. Seamless on the palate, nicely balanced, through to plush tannins. There is great length to be found in this wine. Youthful but already a joy to drink, ten years if needed. Love it.
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.
