Charles Melton The Kirche Shiraz Cabernet 2021

Case discounts (can be mixed cases)
5% off 6 bottles (£41.80 each)
10% off 12+ bottles (£39.60 each)

2021 / Barossa / Australia

Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon / 14.5% / sustainable

We've long been fans of Charlie Melton's wines (I was lucky enough to visit the winery many years ago and spend time with him) and so, when choosing a wine to pair with our beef the other day, The Kirche seemed like a good idea.  After all, this vintage has just won an International Wine Challenge Trophy (for best Barossa blend) so worth checking out, I thought.  And, wow, what a wine!  I've drunk some sublime wines over the past year but this is as enjoyable and memorable as any of them. 

50% Shiraz, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon from old Barossa vines, co-fermented and then aged in French and American oak, as soon as you nose the wine, you know it's going to be great.  It has great aromatics with fresh morello cherry, blackberry, plum and blueberry, plus hints of spice and toast.  On the palate it is so silky and plush that you can't wait to take another sip, revealing that pure ripe fruit (naturally ripe, not confected) along with subtle notes of tobacco, chocolate, spice, toasty oak and a nice minerally earthiness.  It is full but so fresh and balanced that you don't notice the 14.5% alcohol and the plush tannins and fresh acidity ensure everything is in harmony.  This is a stunner, drinking beautifully now but with the structure to develop for another 5+ years at least.  If you'd told me it was the same price as the Melton Nine Popes (£75 a bottle), I'd have said it's worth every penny.  It's just over half the price of that so draw your own conclusions.  Sensational!