Pertaringa Over the Top Shiraz 2021
- 93
- $40
- Drink by: 2022-2034
Share
An absolutely cracking McLaren Vale Shiraz from a fine vintage. The wine saw 20 months maturation in French oak, 30% of which was new. ‘Over the Top’ refers to the team’s stated aim of ‘making the finest wine they possibly can’. The colour here is an inky opaque purple. The nose is dense but balanced and even a little bit refined (possible, even for McLaren Vale). The overall impression though is of the gorgeous plushness the wine offers. We have plummy notes, spices, coffee beans, a hint of vanilla, chocolate, aniseed, bay leaves and blackberries. Good intensity throughout and again, that immaculate balance comes to the fore. The palate is very long and the texture ever so seductive, supple and creamy. Terrific now, it has a good eight to twelve years ahead of it and the score could/should go higher.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
