2022 Head Wines The Blonde Shiraz

Alex Head’s ‘Blonde’ Shiraz is anything but flashy - this is Barossa through a cooler, finer lens. Sourced from a high-elevation vineyard in the Eden Valley, planted in 1962 and tucked into a slope that avoids the worst of the afternoon heat, this is a wine that trades brute power for precision and poise.

Fermented with a touch of Viognier and matured on lees for 18 months in mostly seasoned French oak, it’s one of those Shirazes that still speaks Barossa, but in a quieter, more measured voice. The fruit is deep and dark, yes, but there’s a lift and drive here that comes from the altitude, the granitic soils, and a winemaker who’s not trying to prove anything.

It’s supple, structured, and seriously drinkable right now, but there’s enough shape and depth to reward some cellar time too.

95 points
"Deep magenta-splashed crimson in hue. Aromas of ripe, juicy plum and boysenberry fruits with secondary fruity tones of nectarine and apricot flitting in and out of the olfactory periphery. Hints of five-spice, teacake, olive tapenade, citrus blossom, earth, vanillin oak, graphite and pressed flowers. A voluptuous fruit presence, powdered granitic tannins and a gorgeous outflow of ripe, spiced plummy fruit that slowly fades."
- Dave Brookes (Halliday Wine Companion)