Robert Oatley The Pennant McLaren Vale Shiraz 2018
- 96
- $105
- Drink by: 2022-2032
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The Pennant series represent the elite flagship wines from Larry Cherubino and the team at Robert Oatley. Expect these wines to not only reflect the best of the vintage and region, but to be exceptional drinking. This superb McLaren Vale Shiraz comes from grapes selected across the region with the La Colline Vineyard dominating. The fruit is all from vines which are forty to eighty years of age. The wine is fermented on skins for two to three weeks and then matures in French oak, 20% of which is new, prior to bending and bottling. Near opaque black in colour, the aromas that swirl around the glass include cassis, coffee beans, plush blueberry and blackberry notes and mocha, while the wine obviously enjoys some lovely oak integration. Great balance and length, supple and seamless. While the plushness is compelling, the wine also exhibits a sense of refinement. Very long and with satiny tannins to finish. A cracking Shiraz which will drink superbly over the next decade.
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.
