Oliver’s Taranga Shiraz 2021
- 92
- $32
- Drink by: 2023-2033
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This is a “Do I?” or “Don’t I?” kind of wine. Do I drink it now, or do I tuck it away somewhere safe for a while? I am in two minds. The ’21 is such a superb vintage, you know it’s going to age a treat. And with those firm tannins laying such a strong base, it will be an age-worthy wine. But then the fruit is so tempting now. The scent of bramble, black cherry, black berries, briar with a dash of oak-led pencil shavings sets the scene for a palate that showcases Vale Shiraz in a great year. There’s complexity and good concentration as more and more is slowly revealed with a layer of bitter chocolate here, light spices there, tied up tightly by firm tannins finishing with a cherry pip astringency. Super clean. But, yes, with more time so much more will be revealed.
Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.
