Parker Coonawarra Estate Kidman Block 2021
- 95
- $65
- Drink by: 2023-2033
Share
Don’t you love a great back label? It can fill the gaps that front labels can’t. Parker Coonawarra Estate labels are among the best. I can tell you, amongst a number of interesting facts, that the 2021 Kidman Block Shiraz hails from the north of the region and, in particular, Blocks 1 and 2 of the Kidman Vineyard planted in 1969 on terra rossa over limestone soils. As I open the bottle, I am expecting old vine density of flavour and the terra rossa x factor. They both deliver in the glass. Kidman boasts a natural balance and style. Dressed in purple hues, it’s all fresh raspberry, plum, cherry fruited in league with some enticing thyme and sage notes. Youthful, yes, but you sense a depth that will grow with time. That aromatic introduction moves on to a palate with more polish, more poise. Smooth tannins lead the assembly of flavours and spice with the rise of some snappy blueberry fruits – delicious and inviting – laying the groundwork. Refined, confident oak integration is central to the future of this wine. It’s already beautifully in balance, a good starting point for further time in bottle, if you so wish. Me? I’m having it tonight with Greek lamb.
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.
