Allegiance Wines The Artisan Shiraz 2023
$40, 14.5% alcohol, screw cap, McLaren Vale.
The balance of fruit and oak is excellent here. There’s enough oak to give the wine a gentle, smoky seasoning, and more importantly to add a bit of softness to the mouthfeel. But from there the fruit is allowed to swing freely through the palate, all sweet plums and saltbush, redcurrant and cloves. Everything works nicely here. 92 points.
This article was written by Campbell Mattinson, former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of the highly respected The Winefront site.
Mattinson has been a respected wine critic and photo-journalist since 1987. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the prized Best Australian Sports Writing Award.
Mattinson puts a score out of 100 on every wine that he reviews. But what he’d rather do, is tell you the wine’s story.
