Review: Varney GSM 2018. Nailed it.

Allan Varney’s Grenache-based reds are uniformly good. All of them. Let’s call it a talent. This Varney GSM 2018 is my pick of the lot.

Handling-wise it ticks all the boxes. Some whole bunches, some carbonic, the juice spends 10 months in older oak. The result is so lively. Ripe and full but not heavy, I would have picked more new oak as it has this vanilla bean backdrop. Chunky, yet without excess, all black and red fruits, lovely lift and fine tannins. Balance is excellent. Just a genuinely lovely McLaren Vale red.

Best drinking: now to ten years as a start. 18.5/20, 94/100. 14.6%, $32. Varney Wines website. Would I buy it? Definitely.

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