Pine Drive Vineyards The Pine Drive Shiraz 2019
- 94
- $45
- Drink by: 2021-2031
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This was both a new winery and new wine to me – sometimes that can be an exciting thing; other times, less so. But it is always fun to find out. My usual method in these cases is to taste the wine before researching the information. Prevents preconceptions either way. A good way to go, as the wine certainly stood up as something a bit exciting.
Given the pedigree, so it should. This is a Shiraz vineyard sitting right in what might be termed the dress circle for Barossa Shiraz. Lineage does not get much better. The vineyard has 9.5 hectares planted, in the Kalimna Sands sub-region. The surrounding vineyards include the legendary Block 42 which has made some of the most highly regarded Australian wines ever released,
under the Penfolds banner. Other local vineyards contribute to Grange, 707, St Henri and RWT. So where has this vineyard been and why have we not been enjoying its wines for years? The grapes have previously gone to Peter Lehmann for some of their top wines – there are many worse fates for a Shiraz grape. From this year, the grapes will now go to Accolade. Meanwhile, they have released this wine from the 2019 vintage. I assume (hope?) that we will see this wine released every year, even if the majority of grapes are sold to others.
A vibrant dark purple. The nose is chocolate, plums, blackberries, cassis, leather, coffee beans and black cherries. There is already early complexity here. Serious stuff for sure, but it is very enjoyable. Good length, fine tannins, neatly balanced and with good focus, there is a lot to like here. Drink now and for the next ten years.
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.
