Robert Oatley The Pennant Shiraz 2018

A best-barrel selection from the top tier Robert Oatley McLaren Vale Shiraz program steered by Larry Cherubino, here in its inaugural release. The price tells us something of its intentions, and there’s no shirking in their fulfillment. Sourced from 40-80-year-old vines across the region, much of it favoured from Chris and John Hancock’s La Colline Vineyard in the prized central Chalk Hill district. The wine is masterfully crafted, balanced and pure from start to finish, redolent with vibrant fruit more in the crimson to blue berry spectrum than black, seductively spiced after 12 months in French oak, 20% of it new. Medium weighted with sticky tannins that fit unobtrusively into the back palate, defining a finely textured, lingering finish. Stands tall as one of the region’s more elite and elegant Shiraz outings.