Jasper Hill Georgia's Paddock Shiraz / 2024 / 375mL

Description:

The Jasper Hill Georgia's Paddock Shiraz 2024 is a deeply coloured, spice-driven Heathcote shiraz that carries real power without heaviness, and this 375mL half bottle is the format to reach for when a full bottle is more than the night calls for. Red fruit and dark plum sit over earth and exotic spice, with the fine, chalky tannin that marks the vineyard.

Aromatically the 2024 leads with satsuma plum, mulberry and black cherry, then turns savoury — cracked pepper, dried herbs, a little cocoa and iron. Air brings violets and something faintly bushy and wild.

Across the palate the fruit is generous but linear, framed by tannins that start soft and build with a chalky grip through the back half. Acidity keeps it fresh rather than sweet, and the finish is long, earthy and dry, with the alcohol tucked well out of sight. Grown on the ancient Cambrian soils of the Georgia's Paddock vineyard and made with minimal intervention, the wine tastes of its place rather than of technique.

Roast lamb shoulder with rosemary, a peppered rib eye, slow-cooked beef cheeks or a plate of hard sheep's cheese and quince paste will all sit comfortably alongside it. For one or two people at the table, the half bottle covers a couple of decent glasses each without leftovers.

Drinking well from now through to around 2034. Bear in mind that a 375mL bottle ages faster than a 750mL, so this will hit its stride earlier than the full-sized version of the same wine — decant it young, or give it five years and let it come to you.