Pyren Broken Quartz Shiraz 2011 (Pyrenees, Vic)
12.9%!, Screwcap, $20
Source: Sample
www.pyrenvineyard.com

If ever there was an example of what attentive viticulture can achieve, then it is this wine.

You can see the cool, wet vintage writ large here – from the Crozes-esque white pepper, to the super low alcohol and high acidity. Yet, clearly, in amongst the heartache there was clearly rigorous selection – indeed this doesn’t carry the brown tinge of botrytised grapes, nor does it have the awkward, hard malic acidity that mars plenty of similar west Victorian ’11s. Instead it is light, pretty, stony, peppery and a little herbal – yet still quite beguiling. Sure there are sharp edges, but the mid palate is juicy and generous. Amazingly generous really.

In fact, this wine is something to behold. An achievement from a vineyard to watch.

Drink: 2013-2018
Score: 16.5/20, 88/100
Would I buy it? Yes and no. Perhaps not as an easy drink, but there is something intriguing here, no doubt about it.