There’s an ocean of old-school oak and fruit plushness in the Paulmara range. Well-priced wines too. This Sangiovese has sky-high ambitions – wild fermented, 69 days on skins, 12 months in barrel, and bottled unfined/unfiltered. It’s chunky, more Barossan than Sangiovese, and powerful, with earthen grippy fruit, cherry flourishes, oak and fruit tannins, a leathery edge, and warming alcohol. It gets just a bit dried out on the finish like a Tuscan riserva, and I’d like more fruit to surmount the tannins, but it’s not lacking in heart.

THE VERDICT

• Best drinking: I’d drink earlier while it’s still fresh
• Score (out of 20): 17.5
• Score (out of 100): 91
• Alcohol %: 14.5
• RRP (in $AUD): 40
• Winery website: https://www.paulmara.com.au/
• Would I buy it?: a glass or two