Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz, Grampians 2017

This is Mount Langi Ghiran's flagship wine and comes from their renowned Old Block vineyard. It has has cemented its place as one of Australia's best examples of Shiraz. The Old Block was planted in 1969 with a unique Shiraz clone from a nearby 140 year old vineyard which predates the phylloxera devastation in the Rhône Valley. The cool climate coupled with the old vines results in a unique example of an old meets new world style. Different parcels within the Old Block are hand-harvested, fermented and matured in barrels separately before blending. This vintage has been described by wine writer Matthew Jukes as One of the great Langis of all time, it has pronounced aromas of red cherry, plum, violets, spice, black pepper and vanilla lead onto a full-bodied, balanced elegant palate with great depth of flavour. Great concentration of fruit but with a real freshness that lifts the wine and cuts through onto the long finish.

Drinking now though decant beforehand. Will keep well into the 2030s.

Mount Langi Ghiran was one of the pioneers of cool climate Australian Shiraz. Based in one of Australia's most isolated wine regions, the Grampians up in the Great Dividing Range of western Victoria, they enjoy the benefits of a more moderate, temperate, cooler climate than most. Cool winds blow up from the Southern Ocean, the vineyards sit at 1000ft above sea level and the shadows cast by neighbouring Mount Cole and namesake Mount Langi Ghiran intensify those cooling breezes and curtail the Autumn sun, lengthening the ripening period. They produce some of Australia's most distinctive and distinguished wines.