The Lane Estate Adelaide Hills Syrah 2023

Is it splitting hairs when it comes to calling a wine Syrah or Shiraz? Sometimes winemakers are, sometimes they aren’t, but in the end it’s what is in the glass that counts. This Adelaide Hills Syrah is 13.5% ABV, spent 16 months in French oak, is medium bodied and speaks with a strong, herbal-edged voice which immediately would place it in many people’s idea of Syrah. So, there’s that.  It’s not loud, is slightly low-key in its approach, but it builds in the glass. An arresting herbal intrigue is a lovely part of the wine, all briar and sage, herbs and hints of pepper on the aroma amid a sea of blackberries, blueberries and lifted aromatic spice. As it builds in the glass, it warms to its Syrah task and the role of soft, toasty oak comes into play along with an earthiness, spice, red liquorice and ripe berries, all swept along on velvet tannins. Perked up by an acidity freshness, it finishes pretty fresh and alive for a three-year-old. That’s a good sign for future ageing.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic