Hastwell & Lightfoot Sands of Time Shiraz McLaren Vale, 2018

Sands of Time Shiraz 2018 is dense in colour. It has ripe mellow fruit aromas with vanilla, red cherries, dark chocolate and spices with a touch of green herbs lurking in the background. On the palate it is rich and smooth with a fine texture and juicy acidity. This is a medium to full bodied wine, rich with a long spicy dark chocolate finish. It will benefit from a bit more cellaring before it reaches its peak. Produced from grapes grown on the home block, it is named after the sand dunes built up over 10,000 years, as the prevailing westerlies brought sand in from the coast and dumped it on the ridges in McLaren Vale. 2018 saw some severe heat spikes, but James has nevertheless produced a perfectly balanced and fresh wine with 14% alcohol.