Shaw and Smith Shiraz 2018

If one company has really put Adelaide Hills Shiraz on the fine wine horizon – it would have to be Shaw and Smith. They have understood the potential of the Adelaide Hills to make cooler climate Shiraz and run with it to create increasingly spicy and nuanced wines. They are always elegant but also well-structured wines that can stand the test of time.

The warm 2018 vintage has created a more generous Adelaide Hills expression but with plenty of depth that takes a little time to emerge in the glass. There is the classic blackberry and blueberry shiraz fruit lifted by spice, olive tapenade and even tarry complexity. It is dry, mid-weight and quite tannic in a muscular style but has plenty of fleshy fruit to back it up. The wine is delicious now but could do with a couple of years to show its best.