Taltarni Reserve Shiraz Cabernet 2018

I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for the Taltarni Reserve Shiraz Cabernet. It started about a decade ago when Taltarni put on a vertical tasting showing their wines going back decades, including their standard Pyrenees Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, there were some misses but overall the wines had aged very, very well. And ever since it has put these wines in a different light. They are not all pumped up to look big and bold in their youth. They are classic, reserved, structural wines that drink well young but also are really made to get better over the medium to long term.

The Reserve Shiraz Cabernet has been, until very recently, the pinnacle of the Taltarni range, with its combination of raw power and structure. The 2018 vintage is no different. It has an opaque ruby colour and is immediately powerful and bold, and masculine. There are dense layers of fruit; blackberry, baked earth, spice plus some oak in the background. All that fruit is underpinned on the palate by a robust structure of acid and tannins, all well matched with a dry, mid-weight palate. It is a classic, old-school structural style with exceptional balance, fruit concentration and length. Like all the great vintages it will drink well at ten years and far beyond.