Alkina Polygon No. 1 Shiraz 2019

“The 2019 Polygon 1 Shiraz is spicy, taut and mineral-driven. This has shape and slender form, with pepper spice and all the things, black tea, graphite, etc. There are also notes of lamb fat and cloves as well as dark chocolate, mulberries and licorice. It is savory and exotic and exciting. Although, it does take some getting used to because it is quite different from other Barossa Shirazes—it is pure and febrile rather than big and tannic. This was fermented in concrete and finished off in a custom 420-liter barrel. The fruit for this wine is from a tiny 0.4-hectare polygon and is part of the Old Quarter of the vineyard. The vineyard was split into four distinct parcels, and in three of those parcels, vines grow on heavily fractured micaceous schist. One small area of 0.097 hectares in the middle lacks this schist content and is excluded from the ferment. 46 cases made and 50 magnums. Drink: 2022-2032. 93 points”

Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate (09/22)