Penny’s Hill Yeenunga Shiraz 2023

From the diverse soils of the Yeenunga vineyard comes this debut release. In this case, shallow topsoils over weathered siltstone and sandstone rock. This was matured in seasoned French oak for 16 months. 14% abv. 152 dozen made. I love Shiraz like this from McLaren Vale. It’s classy and complex with a rich velvety aesthetic that never descends into ponderousness. It has a deep and brooding sensibility to the aromas, with boysenberry and blackberry fruits intense from the get go while intermingling with earth and black pepper spice. A swirl of the glass reveals salt-cured meat, black olive, sweet pops of clove, dried oregano, liquorice root and cacao nib. There’s an iodine-like minerality, too, adding a sense of lift. The palate is deep and intense while elegant and restrained. Black cherry, cocoa, earth, black pepper, black olive, liquorice root. It’s all encased in fine, grainy tannins that melt into the wine seamlessly while still providing frame and carry. And just like with the Grenache from this vineyard, the acidity is brillant. It cools the mouth and washes everything down while fanning the flavour out through the back palate to long length. An excellent debut for this wine.