Penny’s Hill Cracking Black Shiraz 2022

A lovely medling of dark fruit and spice in the form of blackberry, plum, dark cherry and sweet baking spices such as nutmeg and cardamom. There’s gentle coal and bacon fat beneath, and some mocha and dark chocolate, all of it wrapped up in a restrained and elegant aesthetic. The palate is full bodied but lifted, with a good burst of intense blackberry and black cherry again, along with lashings of bitter dark chocolate, ground coffee and an ashy coal nuance framed within assertive stacked chalky tannins and very high acidity. There’s some warmth to the finish (14.5% abv), though it’s controlled. A food wine, for sure, and a lot to like about this, especially at the price point.