2010 The Armagh Shiraz

Dark berry fruit, a more savoury take on Shiraz as the evolution in style began to take hold, while keeping true to the structured swagger of these complex old vines. This is lush, majoring on vivid blackberry, loganberry fruits, with roasted spices of star anise, white pepper and cloves. Tasted under screwcap and cork, with the density and freshness a little clearer under screwap, but both are successful. Heading towards 70% French oak for ageing from this vintage, and bringing in 300l hogshead to lessen the oak impact. First year with Tom Barry as winemaker, bottled unfiltered and unfined.

The 2010 Shiraz The Armagh was bottled 50% under stelvin and 50% under cork. This bottle is Stelvin. It is tight, amazing and fresh! It has all the pastrami and peppercorn, but it has light and freshness too. This is impossibly fresh and delicious. What a vineyard. There is a stylistic shift here, moving from barriques to hogsheads, more French oak. It has 14.6% alcohol and was matured for 14 months in 67% French and 33% American 330-liter hogsheads, 70% new oak and 30% one year old. So good. This is alive.

Stunning nose of blackberry and elderberry with wonderful spicy complexity, plus a touch of soot. Rich, elegant and youthful with an embarrassment of black and red fruit, plus tannins and an extremely long, poised finish. Decades of life ahead of it! Drink or hold. Screw cap.