This issue of OnWine sees two Wines of the Edition, both of which are shirazes, both with their origins in McLaren Vale. Neither would suit the present trans-Pacific taste for dry vintage port, both are incredibly intense and vibrant in their expression of pure shiraz fruit, and neither, while given substantial exposure to oak, are remotely the worse for the experience. Given that McLaren Vale growers and makers seem to be amongst our most prone to the trends encouraged by certain overseas and local media, the sheer quality of these wines make one question hard to avoid: How good could the 1998 vintage at McLaren Vale (and much of South Australia) really have been if so many wineries had not exchanged their winemaking principles for the lure of the ‘perfect’ score in the US?
