Dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a nose of blackberry pie, cassis, and a hint of kalamata olive. In the mouth the wine possesses a nice weight and a velvety texture wrapped around blackberry and cassis flavors. A saline, kalamata olive character stays nicely in the background under the fruit. A nice earthiness and woody quality linger in the finish with cassis aromas. Here's a secret: this vintage has declassified Runrig Shiraz in it (the winery's top bottling) since the 2008 vintage was not to winemaker David Powell's standards.

I can't speak for the other tasters, but when I smelled this wine, I was instantly taken back in time to my grandmother's kitchen as she was making strawberry preserves and I was busy trying to steal a spoonful while her back was turned. That's to say aromas of strawberries and cooking spices dominate not only the nose, but all the surrounding area. This is aromatic wine. For all the aromas, however, it sits lightly on the palate, showing more finesse than some of its other Australian counterparts. Drink this wine with a peppercrusted filet mignon, roast duck, or entrecote aux echalottes.

Technical notes

Fruit sourced from six parcels planted in northwestern Barossa Valley was fermented in cement, wood and stainless steel vats for 6-7 days. The must was basket pressed into neutral hogsheads and French oak foudres for 12 months, the wine was bottled without fining or filtration.