2015 Powell & Son Loechel Eden Valley Shiraz, South Australia
Critics reviews
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 01/03/2017
About this WINE
Powell & Son
Syrah/Shiraz
A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.
It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.
South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
Buying options
Add to wishlist
Description
The Loechel Eden Valley Shiraz is sourced from a single vineyard at the Southern tip of the Eden Valley township. It was planted half a century ago by the Loechel family to sandy loam and areas of quartz and gravel, over weathered mica-schist and at 400 metres altitude.
Coming from the western section of a single vineyard in Eden Valley, the 2015 Loechel Shiraz from Eden Valley has a deep garnet-purple color and a gorgeous floral nose of roses and violets, with a whole array of baking spice-laced red and black fruit preserves emerging, plus some hints of cedar and chocolate box. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is youthfully taut, firm and muscular, possessing a solid structure of grainy tannins and lively acidity, finishing with those glorious baking spice layers coming through. 300 cases were made. Drink 2018 – 2038.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - The Wine Advocate 229, 27th February 2017
wine at a glance
Delivery and quality guarantee