The 2021 Springflat Shiraz is 100% Shiraz, from the PT23 clone (15- to 30-year-old vines). This is consistently a blend of five parcels of the vineyard, but it has morphed over the years. 1991 was the first vintage, and it was a single-vineyard wine at that time. The cuvée has been made each year continuously since then. It has, over the years, featured up to eight parcels; however, since 2009/2010, it has been brought back to about five parcels. This was done to nail a consistency of fruit (to mitigate the inconsistency of different viticultural challenges). In 2021, Six Splits (in the north), Mt Pleasant and Col Mountain (in the middle) and Adairs Lane (about 60% of the cuvée this year is from here) and Spring Plains vineyards (in the south) comprise this wine. On the nose, this is effusive with red berries, pink peppercorns, raspberry leaf tea, pomegranate molasses and black tea. On the palate, the wine is equally expressive, and the tannins that shape it are fine and almost chalky, although there is a red blood/iodine character that sneaks in through the finish and balances the sweetness in the fruit. This is a very, very smart wine here. The alcohol, although high on the label (where it's listed as 15.6%), is not evident in the glass. Certainly, the fruit is red and fresh. Sealed under screw cap. Drink 2023 - 2040.
Source: Robert Parker.