Parker Estate Kidman Block Shiraz 2023
- 95
- $65
- Drink by: 2025-2035
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The block was planted in 1969 and so we are looking at 56 -year-old vines officially classified as ‘old vine.’ There is an impressive flavour concentration associated with old vines off a good patch of land, and it’s a feature of this wine. So, too, is a high tannin presence. Kidman Block is always associated with a high potential for further ageing upon release, the ’23 is no different. Red earth, sage, black pepper, anise gather around blackberry fruit with a whisper of black olive savouriness emerging. It’s early days but you have to appreciate the aromatic lift, the fineness of expression and the promise that is to come. Everything is in place. It’s now a question of patience. For me, I love the blackberry, blueberry freshness now, the spices and the long finish. It speaks of the region and its quiet achiever of a grape. It’s a strong temptation to open now. . . very strong.
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.
