2020 Alkina 'Spice Garden' Shiraz Barossa Valley
This is a refined, elegant Shiraz with spice and mineral complexity, nervous tension and cool fruit character.
Wine Advocate
This 2020 Spice Garden Shiraz, like the other premium Alkina Shirazes will certainly split the crowd. Some will be titillated by its purity and febrile nature. Others will pine for the density and volume that Barossa Shiraz can deliver. It's important to know what you're walking into before you do it. I'm in the former camp. This features succulent, chewy fruit grown on limestone (90% of the blend) and schist (10% of the blend); the neighboring clay-based Polygon was excluded as it was thought to overpower the detail in Polygons 10 and 11. This is exceptional. It is supple, pliable and exciting, with layers of exotic spice, layers of fat, clove, star anise, red licorice and mulberry. Balanced. It’s good for the Barossa, this wine. It shows the great thing about the Barossa that made it famous: concentration. But it does so in an elegant, medium-bodied way. The splay of firm Pinot-esque tannin through the finish is the highlight. 44 cases made.