RWT SHIRAZ PENFOLDS 2016

Colour: Deep magenta, purple on rim. Nose: Alluring, invoking. Sweet, aromatic, spicy (cardamom, cinnamon, lavender) … can aromas of butter chicken be mentioned in this context, in a tasting note?! Ascent of tangelo/blood orange spikes – propelling a chinotto/citrus lift. Dusty white chocolate, cocoa butter, and Italian temptations – panna cotta, zabaglione … and what can only be an illusion of tiramisu! Oak – bound to be lurking there somewhere! Camouflaged? Decant more aggressively to reveal? Palate: Conceded. It is: glossy, flamboyant, ostentatious. Is not: over-ripe, alcoholic, extracted. Thereby hits the stylistic Barossa/shiraz bulls-eye … with a little help from fastidiously selected French oak. This oak tightens/focuses/encapsulates. Simultaneously structurally tackled by embracing, ripe tannins. This fruit is then surely shrouded, submissive? Never. Archetypal blueberry bavarois and blackberry fruits brazenly strut across the palate. Dense, bountiful, and was there mention of lengthhhhhhhh …?! Origin: Barossa Valley, South Australia. Maturation: 12 months in French oak hogsheads (72% new). Wine Analysis: Alc/Vol: 14.5%, Acidity: 6.8 g/L, pH: 3.72. Variety: Shiraz.