Tim Smith Wines Mataro 2016

Texture. That’s what I like about Tim’s wines. He’s a genuine guy, and his wines look authentic too, with generous Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz the standouts (in that order).

This red, sourced from 2 old vineyards and matured in all older French oak, has that glorious molten Mataro/Mourvedre blackness. It’s a sensation that here is a wine you could get lost in. There’s a dash of Black Forest cake, some blackberry coulis and all backed but fine, old vine Mataro tannins. Importantly, this has fruit rather than just reductive heartiness, which separates out the better wines, though it’s perhaps missing some swagger to take it into the next quality bracket again.

Lots of time for generous, real Mataro like this. Best drinking: Now to at least a decade. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14%, $38. Would I buy it? Yes.