Pepperjack Mid Strength Barossa Shiraz 2021
- $25
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The rules for engagement when looking for a low alcohol wine? Keep an open mind. Not all low alcohol wines are created equal. It helps to have quality fruit for a start (yes, even for a low alcohol 7% abv. wine). The 2021 vintage in the Barossa Valley was a stunner and Pepperjack, a Barossa Valley based brand, is owned by Treasury Wine Estates which definitely puts it in a good place when it comes to sourcing fruit. It shows in the burst of upfront fruit flavour on this wine rich in aromas of blackberry, plum, gentle spice with a splash of vanilla. This attention seeking start continues on the palate with an immediate impact of good, solid flavour before slowly receding towards a finish, firm in tannins. Mask the bottle and do a blind tasting. Pepperjack delivers flavour without high alcohols and while the richness and body might not be quite as cuddly as its full-strength sibling, it’s a well-made, suitable alternative at half the alcohol.
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.
