2022 The Struie

The 2022 The Struie is composed of 79% Barossa Valley and 21% Eden Valley fruit. It is impenetrably dense in the glass and aromatic and rich in the mouth. It's totally concentrated with impressive flavor penetration on the palate. This is an epic wine, as usual, and at $55 AUD, it represents sensational premium Barossa Shiraz drinking. It's all velvet and volume, with detail and varietal definition. It could only come from one place on the planet, as it speaks as much to its red dirt origins as it does to the variety, Shiraz. 15% alcohol, sealed under cork and wax.

Some new oak here, as the material creeps into the older vine zone (60-70 years). Molten aromas of blueberries, lilacs, apricots and iodine, as if there was some viognier in the mix, so lifted and floral is the nose. Typical Eden-valley lift. Full-bodied yet taut, refined and prodigiously long. If refinement is a construct in a region known for power, this is among the most refined wines of the region. Drinkable now, but best from 2026.