2017 Hickinbotham Clarendon Elder Hill Grenache, McLaren Vale

Slightly reductive on opening, then into all that spice and dried herb perfume, raspberry, strawberry, and a scoop of brown earth. Medium-bodied, fresh, savoury tasting rather than fruity, a little roast lamb and thyme/rosemary thing going on, firm sandy tannin, really pushing out on the finish with exceptional length and drive. Go McLaren Vale Grenache.

Sourced from a single plot of old bushvines dating from '62 at 252m, the fruit was fully destemmed before individual berry sorting, indicative of the resources at the disposal of the Jackson Family stable. Extraction, more European than Australian, with three punchdowns daily across a 10-day extraction period, before 7 months in neutral Burgundian coopered oak, has ensured a prism of savouriness. The result is thoroughly convincing and highly complex. Black olive, cherry liqueur and raspberry bonbon notes are wrapped in the herbal bosom of tannic twine. A gentle rasp, mind you, rather than an aggressive scrape. Delicious wine. Captivating and very long.