2020 Coates The Reserve Syrah, McLaren Vale

Duane Coates likes to say that he applies a heart-over-head approach to winemaking, but his deep technical expertise is undeniable. His emotional instinct is backed by exacting standards and a highly deliberate approach: the use of indigenous yeasts and the avoidance of fining agents and filtering are all choices that require care and attention to detail in the cellar.

The range of wines on offer under his negociant label has grown slowly over the years, through relationships with South Australian growers cultivating vineyards that for Duane express the purity of flavour and clearly articulated regional characters he is looking for.

The Reserve Syrah is only released from exceptional vintage conditions and is a wine that will show its full character only after a few years in the cellar. The 2020 was a season of low yields due to numerous spring frosts, but the quality of the fruit was excellent. The fruit was sourced from Willunga, hand-picked and fermented on skins for four weeks in open fermenters. Matured for 24 months in a combination of new and one-year-old French oak, with two tasting passes narrowing down the barrels used for the wine. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The wine opens with rich black fruit framed by notes of toasted nori sheets, cured meats and charred timber. The full-bodied palate rewards with generous fruit layered with dark chocolate and iodine. Ample tannins provide support on the long finish.

Open mid-winter in a cosy warm house and decant for an hour or two if patience is not one of your virtues. Enjoy with all-day slow braise of beef cooked in dashi enriched with Hatcho miso, mirin and shiitake, reduced to a glossy black glaze. Hungry, yet?