North by Adrian Hoffmann Dallwitz Block Shiraz 2018

Adrian Hoffmann has a very personal affinity with his family’s Ebenezer district vineyards in the Barossa Valley’s far northern sector – perhaps this is even more pronounced with his beloved Dallwitz block, which includes vines well over 100 years old. And so North is his very personal expression of the wine that comes from there, and only there. It smells and tastes bloody ripe. And actually, even straight-out “bloody”. There’s a whiff of winery in vintage as well, of skins and stalks and bursting Shiraz grapes, blood plums and apple crumble, and yet there’s an inconceivable freshness and tang of acidity that perks up the wine in its mid to late palate, chewy though with open-ended tannins, a faint note of mint also having a lift. This all comes after 5 years in new French oak and another in bottle, patiently gathering its inner strengths before release. In the end there’s no surprise that it is big and bold, and more importantly complete and convincing. Those who understand and appreciate this style of Shiraz will get it big-time. Make sure you sit down to drink it!