Pirathon Blue
2017

Chocolate, a little funky note, schist, sweet perfume and a touch of oak char with aeration. Dark and brooding palate with dark fruits and lead pencil, intensely flavoured and nicely balanced, while the tannin and acid balance is spot on. Lovely vibrancy and drinkability here, yet there feels like potential too. Delicious drinking and value for money.

Mostly shiraz with some help from cabernet. It’s a bold, richly flavoured red with blackberry, dust and roasted plum flavours as the dominating forces but with hazelnut and sweet, earthy spice notes as contributors. There isn’t a lot of tannin but it firms well enough through the finish to give it shape. If you’re looking for shiraz from the bigger end of town then this is an excellent quality/value option.

This is splendidly fruited and inviting on the nose showing dark fruit richness together with seductive notes of anise, roasted hazelnut, cocoa and floral. The palate delivers excellent weight and fruit intensity, wonderfully complemented by silky texture and fine-grained tannins. It’s rich and generous with a lengthy delicious finish.

The review was published in the May-June 2020 issue of WBM.

Campbell Mattinson. Barossa Valley shiraz with 14% cabernet sauvignon. The cabernet inclusion works well here. It’s a sweet, plum-driven red but that cabernet dustiness helps give it both breadth and shape. There are sweet, roasted nut characters here too along with dry spice/clove. It’s not a profound wine but it has good richness and finishes well. Value.

“Smoky creosote, blueberry conserve with new leather, liquorice, black jelly bean, bourbon/vanilla oak and woody spice snap. Medium-full bodied. Svelte front palate with fast attack of grainy tannins. Blue/purple fruit depth with herbal twang. Finish of easy sweet mocha oak. A lighter expression (despite the ABV), but assuredly Barossa.”