Review: Chapel Hill Road Block Shiraz 2021

Loud but proud Vale Shiraz. That’s the jist with this deeply impressive single-block McLaren Vale Shiraz. from a patch of vines near the road (as you drive into Chapel Hill). Good countryside for reds. Interstingly, this bears the name of the viticulturist Rachel Steer. Why do winemakers get all the love?

Anyway, there’s an x-factor here just from the nose – it reminds me of powerful by expressive Scarce Earth wines, which are still a high point for McLaren Vale Shiraz. Bacon fat, dark chocolate and ripples of dark black fruit and soy. Shitloads going on. A line of oak vanilla goes through the middle, adding layers. This tends more towards black fruit, just the barest suggestion of dried fruit, but it remains savoury and just deeply flavoured. Super.

THE VERDICT

• Best drinking: now and for more than a decade
• Score (out of 20): 18.7
• Score (out of 100): 95
• Alcohol %: 14.5
• RRP (in $AUD): 70
• Winery website: https://www.chapelhillwine.com.au/
• Would I buy it?: yes