Thanks heavens I’m not at the present time a sufferer of asthma or other allergies that inhibit my wine intake. The extent of my problems in the health department begins and ends with a repetitive tendency to suffer with a sore head in extremis after even taking a glimpse at an armagnac, which suggests my self-control isn’t all it might be. However it must be difficult if sulphites, even in very low concentrations, prevent you drinking wine, so any solution is a good one. BRL Hardy has just released the 2001 vintage of its No Preservative Shiraz, a more than worthy reason for allergy sufferers of many persuasions to fall back off the wagon. It’s bright and deep, in appearance and flavour, with a lustrous purple-red colour and a penetrative aroma of lightly spicy and surprisingly concentrated cassis, plum and blueberry flavours. Obviously the wine has been bottled rather early in its career to minimise oxidation, but it does reveal light vanilla and smoky oak influences. There’s good richness and length, some soft and very fine tannin and rather a polished edge to its refreshing acidity. I could be wrong on this, but it appears as if made and bottled without a malolactic fermentation, which contributes to its racy freshness. I rate the wine at 15.9, and would obviously recommend drinking it sooner than later, although there’s no doubt it will last until the appearance of the 2002 vintage. The wine retails around $15 per bottle.
