Purple Hands Shiraz 2023
$40, 14.5% alcohol, screwcap, Barossa Valley.
The flavour is sweet and plump, the texture is soft, and the finish is satisfying. This is not the most complex of releases but it otherwise ticks all the right boxes. Blackberry, redcurrant and plums, a flash of licorice, mint top notes and a well-judged curl of tannin. It’s nicely turned out, and it drinks well as a result. 91 points.
Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He founded The Winefront, is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion (and former editor of Halliday magazine), and is the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He is 100% independent, and tastes between 5,000 and 10,000 wines each year, blind and in comparative brackets as often as is practicable.
Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.
