Richard Hamilton Centurion Old Vine Shiraz 2020

This was everything I expect from premium McLaren Vale Shiraz – dark and powerful with round, ripe tannins and intense fruit concentration. But it was also a whole lot more. Ancient dry-grown vines, planted in 1892, offer up a seamless elegance. Aromas of perfectly ripe blackberries and black cherries are lifted by a pinch of white pepper. Subtle, beautifully integrated oak adds earthy baking spices.

On the palate there is a vibrant blueberry acidity that you get from fruit so perfect that it almost crunches when your teeth pierce the skin. It’s savoury at the same time, with minerality akin to freshly sharpened graphite drawing pencils. Wines like this are designed to age, and whilst it drinks beautifully now, especially with a quick decant, I look forward to the complexity it will achieve with a few more years in bottle.