2014 Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz

The 2014 Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz is decidedly riper, plumper, rounder and fuller than the 2013 tasted prior. At nine years of age, it is profuse in its display of mulberry compote, kirsch, roasted beetroot, licorice, malt biscuit and licorice bullets. There are also notes of cocoa, ginger snap, star anise and ham hock (pea and ham soup). In the mouth, the wine is fresh but full of all these things, and actually, the flesh makes it a little more pleasurable to drink right now than the 2013. The alcohol feels evident here—spicy, heat, clove, etc., accentuating the ripe fruit characters. I bet this was a "drinker fave" on release, given all the flesh and cushioning. I like a little less of that myself, but it's all a preference game. For balance, this is a little weightier and not as refined. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Tasted as part of a vertical of vintages 2013 - 2020. The Balhannah vineyard (in Balhannah—northeast of Hahndorf and around 30 kilometers southeast of Adelaide city) sits at an elevation of 380 meters above sea level and was planted in 2005. The soils are loam over clay, ironstone, quartzite and shale; Savii17 clones are planted at a north-facing density of 5,555 vines per hectare.