rossa, Australia - Estate Vineyards
 
93 Points James Suckling
 
This is a soul-warming, hug-in-a-glass Shiraz from one of Australia's most historic estates.
 
It busts out peppery spice and herbs atop plump plum and dark-berry fruit with a dusty terra cotta bass note. The palate is equally fruit-and-spice driven, rich and silky in texture, but tightened up with savory, sinewy tannins. An unabashedly sun-drenched Shiraz, but one that is ultra approachable in spite of itself.
 
The Shiraz is vinified through the historic 1888 Gravity Cellar, built into the hillside on a series of terraces.
 
Nose of lifted dark cherry, liquered Davidson plum fruit, and poached lilly pilly (a native purple berry), with complex brown spices. Ripe fruits, subtle floral notes, black pepper, Dorrigo pepperleaf (a menthol like native herb), and polished oak spices find balance and complexity on the palate. Classic Barossa boldness, but with amplified structure to find elegance.