Yalumba The Steeple Single Vineyard Barossa Shiraz 2021

Anyone who ever saw Darren Lockyer or David Campese slice through an opposition backline, Wayne Gretzky on ice or Michael Jordan on a basketball court, will understand the concept of gliding. This supple and sleek texture, with its silky tannins, is the vinous equivalent, gliding effortlessly to a very long finish. From a stellar vintage, this is a single vineyard wine hailing from the sub-region of Light Pass. The vines, biodynamically grown, were planted back in 1919. Fair to say, much can be expected. And much is delivered. A wild ferment before the wine spent sixteen months in oak, 15% of which new, termed the Tonnellerie Sylvain ‘Artistic Series’ barriques. They were made from a 365 year old oak tree (not completely sure that if I was the marketing team, I’d be promoting chopping up such a venerable old oak tree, but we can say that its demise was not in vain). The wine has a black cherry hue, with a wonderfully enticing nose, which just screams first class Barossa Shiraz. Full of dark berries, chocolate, roast meats, cassis, bay leaves, sage and mocha, the texture is plush in the extreme. Excellent oak integration (thankfully), there is a supple texture here and immaculate balance. Silky tannins, seriously good length and intensity maintained for the full journey, this is simply delicious, although it surely has at least fifteen years ahead of it. Notes of graphite are more prevalent on the palate. It seems that this wine often takes a backseat to some of the others in the portfolio, which seems criminally unfair. This is a gem.

Ken Gargett

Contributor at Winepilot

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.

Wine writer and critic