Sevenhill Vaulted Cellar Shiraz 2020
- 93
- $50
- Drink by: 2022-2030
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The name comes from the old cellar, the vaulted cellar, which was excavated by hand in the late 1850s. It is beneath the winery and the place where the journey began for Sevenhill. The fruit hails from a block behind the winery planted in 1973, itself named in honour of Brother Francis Lenz, the winemaker here between 1883 and 1888; the vines remain unirrigated. The grapes are crushed into open slate fermenters for a cool ferment, and-plunged twice daily. Basket pressing ten days after fermentation, the wine then spends 20 months in new French oak hogsheads, 40% new. Near opaque purple in colour, the nose weaves through an alluring array of blackfruits and blueberries with notes of coffee beans, warm earth and a little chocolate. Supple in texture, it has a seamless structure and an appealing richness throughout. This is a full-flavoured style with bright acidity, fine tannins and very good length. Drink over the next six to eight years.
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.
