Purple Hands Colours the South Mourvedre 2019

It’s not surprising that given their mastery of Barossa grenache, Craig Stansborough and Mark Slade also have turned their attention to mourvedre (aka mataro), often the minor partner in GSM blends but here out and proud, and why not, sourced from a single vineyard in the Vine Vale district renowned for its aromatic espression in red wine varieties.

Here we see it with floral/earthy/ tell-tale meaty, gamey, spicy, almost black pudding-ish characters, all weaving subtly together into a burst of front-palate flavour and if you could ever imagine mourvedre being “elegant” then here you see it too, with a dusty, earthy, chalky, fine sandy tannin feel that presents with a faint gastronomic bitters note. If ever you wondered what mourvedre brings to a GSM blend, this wine will show you very clearly. Delicious, Excellent. 95 points. Nah bugger it – this wine grows on you, 96.