2021 Single Vineyard Carr Shiraz

The inaugural release of this single vineyard wine; 20% whole bunches and matured in French puncheons (13% new). A medium bright crimson purple. A complex and brooding bouquet with aromas of dark fruits, spice-rack spices, incense and some cedar from the oak. Still a baby on the palate, too. Medium bodied, this has excellent depth with impeccable fine-grained and very persistent tannins providing backbone and structure. You can open this now (I would give it a quick decant), but you'll thank me later if you still have a bottle 10 years from now.

Youthful and vibrantly purple in the glass. Fragrant and lifted aromas of blueberry, sarsaparilla, clove, dried herbs, violets and spice. The palate is fine boned, mid-weight, focused and multi-faceted. There's lashings of blue fruits, dark cherry and nutty oak. The tannins are structured, granular and very shapely and the acidity delivers plenty of snap and shape. A lovely example of cooler climate shiraz.

20% whole bunch inclusion matured for 15 months in luncheons and barriques of which 15% were new with vine source material around 22 years old. Blackberry, juniper and warm kalamata olive loaf bread. Prune plums, beetroot relish and clove studs. Old fashioned pencil tin, thyme and coal dust. The wine twists and turns, writhing on the palate with fine tannins, juicy acidity and coils of black fruited flavour. Equally a mix of ripe fruit, spice and earthy undergrowth of inorganic compounds. Such a structurally sound wine that is built for ageing gracefully. Drink now or will cellar for over 5 years. This would look splendid with Mediterranean baked fish, tomatoes, olives and woody herbs.

The Carr Vineyard gives Yarra Valley Shiraz a good name. It’s a powerful collaboration to be sure, one that shows drinkers who might naturally reach for a glass of Cabernet or Pinot another notable Yarra Valley red grape worth exploring. This is one red fruited, spicy Shiraz with bounce and liveliness. It brightens up a glass. Black and red cherry, pomegranate, aniseed and pepper rise from the glass. To taste, it is the enduring peppery spice that claims your imagination and taste buds. It’s a real feature, revealing and celebrating the wine’s cool climate, single vineyard origin. Fine tannins keep control and provide structure. Its then keeps working through layers of flavour – chocolate, nutmeg, toasty char oak, spice, intense black fruit – through and through.

The 2021 Shiraz Carr Vineyard, from the Coldstream sub-region. is tightly wound and brooding, with layers of blackberry and black olive topped by violets and spice. Chewy tannins are the key here, keeping the fruit in check (which has taken on a meatier complexion). The 2021 is a little adolescent right now, but all the parts are in place for enjoyment over the medium term.