Hugh Hamilton Pure Black Icon 2017

This is the Hamilton family’s attempt at creating a wine to sit with the very best made in this country. An Icon. The presentation is certainly an impressive start – heavy bottle, big punt, embossed, hand dipped in wax, it certainly looks the goods. It is a barrel selection, with only five barrels making the grade from over four hundred in contention. This is the first release of this wine, as the family was keen to make certain they had a vintage worthy. From McLaren Vale, this is very much a ‘Hamilton’ wine first, the region and then thanks to a rather surprising and curious blend, something which is very much associated with the team. This is a Shiraz Saperavi blend. Saperavi is a full flavoured, powerful red grape from Georgia. The result is delicious and, while it might take a few more vintages before the reputation is fully established, a great start. A dense, opaque black, this is big, bold and powerful with serious concentration throughout. Still very young, with ten to fifteen years ahead of it, we have notes of cloves, black olives, cassis, mocha and cocoa powder, even a lovely gentle note of orange rind weaving about. A seamless and quite luscious palate, right through to a long finish with abundant tannins that are fine and silky. Impressive and likely to be deserving of an even higher score in time.