RATING: 100/100
FROM: Barossa Valley, South Australia
VARIETY: Shiraz, Viognier

A blend of 98% Shiraz and 2% Viognier made just prior to bottling, the 2016 RunRig
is a complete masterpiece. It kicks off with elegant notes of pencil shavings accenting
blueberries and blackberries on the nose, then shows incredible, palate-staining intensity of fruit in the mouth. It’s full-bodied, plush and velvety without being unstructured and manages to be fruit-forward yet savory on the long-lasting finish, where it picks up hints of mocha and black olives. This should be drinkable with pleasure throughout its entire two decade life (it may live longer from cold cellars or in larger formats), but if I were lucky enough to have a bottle or two, I’d try the first one about 10 years out.

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98% Shiraz, 2% Viognier

6 Vineyards, assemblage: Lyndoch, Rowland Flat, Moppa, Ebenezer, Light Pass

30 months on new (50%), second-fill and third-fill French oak barriques, completing a natural malolactic fermentation in barrel and resting on fine lees throughout maturation to enhance texture

Crimson and deep purple hues

Cherry plum, dark chocolate, mulberry and five-spice with savoury tones

Full-bodied, firm tannins that interplay with a generous, silky, textural mid-palate weight. The finish is firm and persistent

Cellar for 15 to 20 years

The Highland clans used a ‘RunRig’ system to distribute land amongst their clansmen in a series of widely dispersed holdings. The emphasis was not on any one farm but rather the communal element of the whole. Shiraz from old dry-grown vineyards is blended with Viognier, complementing the strengths and complexities of these individual parcels of fruit, whilst giving the resulting wine a further dimension.

Despite a dry winter during 2015, rains in January and March 2016 freshened the older vines and provided long, slow ripening periods in between, which led to a stand-out vintage with high-quality fruit.

Intense, lifted aromatics of dense blueberries and blackberries, dark chocolate all come to the fore with an opulent profile of mulberry plum and five-spice. A plush and velvety textured palate of red cherry and stone fruits, clove all interwoven with hints of dark chocolate. The complex layers and fruit characters continue to evolve in the glass with hints of ironstone, anise, blackberry and pepper all becoming more persistent in the finish. This densely textured RunRig will certainly reward those with patience.