Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 2 2016

• 91 points, The Wine Front
• 91 points, Ray Jordan (The West Australian)

Eyes: Deep, dark red-purple
Nose: Intense perfume, mixed berry fruits, floral, and spice
Mouth: Primary fruit leads onto savoury graphite and white pepper underpinned by stalkiness and concentrated meatiness

A northern Rhône (think Côte Rôtie) inspired Shiraz blend which in 2016 was made up of 95% Shiraz, 2% Viognier, 2% Mataro and 1% Marsanne. Fruit was hand-picked, bunch sorted and destemmed directly to the Yarra Yering half- tonne open-fermenters. As much whole berry as possible is retained to encourage perfume. Some stalks were added back to some of the fermenters in order to contribute structure and aroma. Some fermenters added frozen Viognier skins to the bottom,some with Marsanne skins. The wine was aged for 12 months in French oak barriques, 30% new before blending and bottling. The bouquet is pleasantly balanced with subtle spice and vanilla, floral, violet and dark berry flavours which recur on the palate. It has a deep, sneaky complexity. The tannins are soft and ample, fleshy and quite elegant. There is a lovely fruit-sweet core. A gorgeous wine.

Pair with steak, eggplant, kebab, roast lamb and wood-fire zucchini.

Serving temperature: Room temp. at 16-20°C
Storage: Up to 3-5 days after opening