Zema Estate Family Selection Coonawarra Shiraz 2018
- 95
- $50
- Drink by: 2024-2034
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Nowadays, Coonawarra and Cabernet seem inextricably linked, but there was a time when the grape that starred in this region was Shiraz. This wine shows just why. Open fermenters for small batches, hand plunging followed by basket pressing, fermentation was finished in a combination of new and older French oak hogsheads with a further two years maturation before barrel selection was made for the final blend. A wonderful vintage. A vibrant blood red colour here with a truly beautiful nose, offering alluring notes of chocolate, blackberries, dried fruits, herbs, soy, aniseed and violets. There is a fine focus here, in a well-crafted example of what this grape can do in this region. Beautifully balanced, this is seamless, offering serious length and with the silkiest of tannins. A cracking Coonawarra Shiraz which will drinking superbly for a decade. These guys fly under the radar far more than they should. Never a bad wine and plenty of stunners, like this one. If you are not familiar, time you sought them out.
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.
