Andrew Hardy has always been at the top of his game and under his own label Ox Hardy is destined for new heights. Bloody exciting stuff from McLaren Vale, these wines are showstoppers, even by his high standards.
Ox Hardy Grenache 2020
Red cranberry and raspberry, with suggestions of picked garden herbs and vine ripened heirloom tomatoes. The right amount to add a savoury edge against all that aromatic McLaren Vale fruit, which shows up in truck loads on the palate. The time in oak adds mid-palate texture and demonstrates that this wine has a long way to go for a sleep in the cellar but for now is also crunchy, fresh and sluggable.
Ox Hardy Upper Tintara Shiraz 2017
Immediate green sicilian olives, thyme, sage and dark skinned black fruit with smoked Italian meats. The Upper Tintara Vineyard and its ‘younger’ vines deliver all the sentimentality and prestige of the original dream from the 1870’s, no wonder this wine is at the core of the range. Like a Champagne Maison stands behind their flagship non-vintage cuvée. This wine has all the stuffing but delivered with so much elegance and poise. Smoked meat board and outdoor drinking, wallaby tartare with extra capers. Hell, a glass of this and a dirty martini in the other hand, heck yes.
Ox Hardy Slate Shiraz 2018
Aromatic blue florals, blueberry and blood plums. Lots of granite and blackberry bush with lithe tannins and that signature of driving acidity which pulls this wine in. So much finesse in the structure of this wine and plenty of fruit and power but rounded up and tightly coiled. Impressive.
