Description
Product DescriptionStructured, savoury and built to go the distance. The 2022 DC Block Shiraz is a single-vineyard wine from 50-year-old vines planted in slaty siltstone flecked with ironstone, facing south-east at 108 metres. This was the first single-block release from the Koomilya site and remains one of its most distinctive. Named for Don Cant, the previous owner of the block, this is a wine rooted in heritage, crafted with restraint and intent by Stephen Pannell. Hand harvested and wild fermented in large-format oak, the wine spent 11 days on skins before settling and ageing in seasoned French oak. The DC Block is the most textural and savoury of the Koomilya trio, where the fruit steps back to let structure lead. A wine that rewards time and patience, shaped by a vintage of low yields and long ripening. Tasting NotesNOSE– Earthy and spicedBlack bean, five spice, sage and a flicker of wormwood over deep plum fruit. PALATE– Savoury and layeredDark cherry, hoisin, tea leaf and bitters, grounded by mineral grip. FINISH– Tactile and longPapery tannins and herbaceous depth carry the palate with baritone persistence. Reviews & Accolades It’s so nice to see these Block wines consistently show true to site, while also naturally fluctuating with the vintage. The DC is always the most traditional of feel — of intensity and fruit flavour — of the triad of wines, but it’s as effortless, as delightfully free of artefact as the other wines. Deep of fruit, brooding, but never sweet or rich with it. Just a wine of thrumming presence with a bloody ferrousness, feeling of those ironstone-laced soils, old vines and that distinctive Upper Tintara bush block. There’s a character in all the wines that feels of that place, of the earth and the bush in the warmth of summer, but not of eucalypt, of mintiness, just of the scent of that serene place. An excellent wine.”Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion – 96 points Black bean, five spice, hoisin and oyster sauce followed by dark ripe plums, raspberry and liqueured dark cherries. The flavours remind us of chocolate crackles, Genepi, Amaro and builders tea left in the pot. A hint of sage and wormwood brings a savoury note to the finish.”Gary Walsh, The Wine Front – 94+ points Finer Details Style – Red Wine Varietal – Shiraz
