Smokin Barrels Shiraz 2024

Full-bodied, dry Barossa Valley shiraz with inky purple colour and dense black fruit — blackberry jam, plum pudding and liquorice — lifted by black pepper and mocha oak. Velvety tannins carry a generous, ripe palate through to a long, mouth-coating finish.

Smokin' Barrels is the joint venture of winemaker Kym Teusner and grower Warwick Murray, trading as The Mute Vintners. They bought a 45-acre property called Woodstock near Angaston at the end of 2007 to supply the label. The vineyard on Stockwell Road was planted through the 1990s on coarse sand over deep red clay. Native grasses seed themselves down the mid-rows. The irrigation water is run-off caught from the roofs and carparks of a nearby industrial precinct.

The fruit is destemmed and fermented in open vats for five to seven days, pumped over twice a day by hand. It then spends 14 months in seasoned puncheons and hogsheads. The producer's own note adds black peppercorn, cinnamon and a floral lift to the dark cherry and plum.

Drink it now or within five years. Slow-cooked lamb shoulder, a chargrilled steak or a mushroom pie on a cold night.