Review: Dalwood Estate Shiraz 2018. A grand name returns

Dalwood Estate is the longest running commercial vineyard in Australia, with a history that dates back to 1828 when it was first established by George Wyndham.

But for years now Dalwood has been lost, the vineyard a forgotten cog in the old Wyndham Estate machine, with the name itself owned by Treasury until 2018.

Now, Dalwood is back, revived by the Aranaout family (who also own Hungerford Hill and Sweetwater) with the man with the best hair in Australian wine, Bryan Currie, making the wines.

This 2018 Shiraz is amongst the first releases under the new/old Dalwood label, and it’s a genuinely enjoyable modern Hunter red.

Ripe and plump, flush with soft, persistent and fleshy purple berry fruits, carrying an unquestioned red earth character through the finish, shining with that sweetness of fruit without heaviness which marks the best ripe contemporary Hunter Shiraz (a style championed by winemakers like Andrew Thomas, Mike De Iuliis et al).

I have plenty of time for silken Hunter charmers like this, and that line of earth just makes it even more distinct (and enjoyable), even if it’s perhaps a fraction riper than some of the legendary Hunter Burgundy styles.

Welcome back Dalwood Estate!

Best drinking: now to fifteen years. 18.5/20, 94/100. 14%, $45. Would I buy it? I could drink plenty of this.