St Hallett Sacred Ground Shiraz 2021
- 93
- $95
- Drink by: 2024-2034
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For eighty years, in various incarnations, St Hallett has been a source of excellent Barossa reds. Sacred ground, indeed! 2021 is, of course, a superb vintage for the region. The wine is an opaque/maroon and is immaculately structured with serious concentration. There are notes of mulberries, purple fruits, plums, blackcurrants and smoked meats with a whiff of Christmas pudding. The integration of oak has been handled with class carried by very good length, sleek tannins, fine balance and a firm grip. For me, this wine will provide excellent drinking for at least the next eight to ten years. I say, ‘for me’, as the back label suggests up to five years. I think they are doing themselves a serious disservice. It is way better than that.
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.
