Lovely aroma, quite composed and balanced. The fruit is mostly red and shows an attractively lithe profile, quite unlike the denser aromas our warmer climate Shiraz wines can show. There’s some brown spice too, which blends well with oak that is somewhat nougat-like in character. I’m not sure I like the oak; its level is well judged but its character is just a bit too sweet and obvious for my liking. A matter of taste, though.

The palate is medium bodied and strikingly intense; there’s some great fruit in here. On entry, slick red fruit and prickly spice ride atop an immensely slick mouthfeel. The middle palate sees this silicon texture expand over the tongue, and some may love the sense of luxe here. Personally, I feel the texture is one-dimensional and somewhat at odds with the angular flavour profile. The flavours become sweeter as the line progresses, due in part to oak I think. The finish is rather delicious, echoing the wine’s flavours softly and for some time.

Sometimes I wish a wine were less perfect, and this is one of those times. There’s some seriously characterful fruit underneath the gloss, and I kept wishing I could get a less intermediated view of it, something rougher hewn, less intrusively sweet and slick. Still, a wine of quality and interest.

Cumulus Wines
Price: $A30
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample