Richard Hamilton Centurion Old Vines Shiraz 2020
- 94
- $80
- Drink by: 2023-2035
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The colour here is an inky dark maroon. Powerful nose and palate, as befits region and vintage, but everything is well balanced. The aromas are quite intense. We have chocolate dominating, with blackberries, bergamot, cloves and cocoa powder. There is bright but non-obtrusive acidity. Good intensity throughout, right through to the long and impressive finish, with its ever-so-fine tannins. Plenty of them but they are so plush and cushiony, that they seem to melt over a long and lingering finish. This will sail through the next decade and more, in good cellars. Like it a lot.
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.
