2022 Koomilya DC Block Shiraz
2022 Koomilya DC Block Shiraz

2022 Koomilya DC Block Shiraz

97 pts
S.C. Pannell |McLaren Vale |Shiraz
A powerful yet finely balanced single-block Shiraz from Koomilya’s original vineyard, showing the depth, savoury complexity and ageing potential that make it one of McLaren Vale’s most coveted releases.
Price:
$130.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

The DC Block is where the Koomilya story really began, and in 2022 it once again shows why this patch of dirt holds such a reputation. Planted on slaty siltstone with ironstone scattered throughout, it’s the darkest and most brooding of the single-block releases – a Shiraz that trades in power and savoury complexity rather than sweetness.

The long, mild La Niña season gave the fruit plenty of time to develop, bringing extra depth to the tannins and a structure that feels tightly wound yet perfectly balanced. You get all the intensity you’d expect – dark fruit, spice, a lick of umami and mineral drive – but there’s a freshness too, something that keeps it from ever feeling heavy. It’s a wine that has presence without excess, built to age for years yet already deeply impressive in its youth.

Made in tiny quantities, the DC Block has always been one of Koomilya’s most sought-after bottlings. The 2022 release is no exception – a wine that speaks clearly of Upper Tintara and Stephen Pannell’s vision of what modern McLaren Vale Shiraz can be.

Marcus Ellis

Marcus Ellis

Halliday Wine Companion 96 Points

It’s so nice to see these Block wines consistently show true to site, while also naturally fluctuating with the vintage. The DC is always the most traditional of feel – of intensity and fruit flavour – of the triad of wines, but it’s as effortless, as delightfully free of artefact as the other wines. Deep of fruit, brooding, but never sweet or rich with it. Just a wine of thrumming presence with a bloody ferrousness, feeling of those ironstone-laced soils, old vines and that distinctive Upper Tintara bush block. There’s a character in all the wines that feels of that place, of the earth and the bush in the warmth of summer, but not of eucalypt, of mintiness, just of the scent of that serene place. An excellent wine.

Huon Hooke

Huon Hooke

The Real Review 97 Points

Dense, concentrated, saturated purple colour, very dark. There are savoury smoky/nutty, toasty and roasted meat aromas of really serious shiraz. The wine is super-concentrated, powerful, mouth-filling and also detailed: it has great complexity of flavour—es especially impressive in such a young wine. The detailed complexity in this wine is absolutely captivating. A marvellous shiraz which will drink beautifully for a very very long time.

2022 Vintage
2022 was a La Niña year. Winter and spring were wet and cold, followed by a mild summer and autumn. The season afforded long hang times and, therefore, greater tannin development.

These wines show strength, intensity, and glorious grape tannins, which wind the palate together almost like a double helix. The complex structure pulls you straight through. They illustrate what I hope modern McLaren Vale wine will be—harking back to the traditions of the 1960s, without the artifice of winemaking.

Above all, these wines look and taste Koomilya.

– Stephen Pannell


The Place
Koomilya is more than just a vineyard in the Upper Tintara district of McLaren Vale – it is a place that delivers clarity and purpose. Planted originally to Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mataro, Riesling, and Chardonnay, the vineyard has evolved since its purchase in 2012. Chardonnay has been grafted to Touriga Nacional, Riesling to Tempranillo, more Mataro has been planted, and most Cabernet Sauvignon has been replaced with Grenache and Malbec. Shiraz remains, though at times its place has been questioned.

For me, all great wines must have a sense of place. My role has been to prune every vine, clear the scrub and creek line of feral olives, encourage the blue and red gums to thrive, replant native species, and remove bone seed to give orchids a chance to flourish. This work has allowed Koomilya to develop a true sense of place. The hum of beneficial arthropods and native fauna sets the property on a frequency that affects all who visit. Yet the question remains: do I have the right varieties in the right place?

Philosophy
From Grenache, I have learned that sweetness must be avoided to make truly great warm-climate reds. Shiraz, too, should not be sweet. I want dryness and texture from fruit, not oak. Balance, phenolics, and the absence of overripeness are critical. Shrivel must be avoided at all costs.

Yields are managed to an almost uneconomical three tonnes per hectare through minimal irrigation, crop thinning, leaf plucking, and strict vineyard uniformity. I generally pick at 13.5 Baumé, though I am not afraid of alcohol levels influencing the final balance. The goal is ripeness matched with intensity.

Warm-climate Australia needs to reclaim Shiraz, to recontextualise modern Australian red wine as something that speaks of place. Shiraz, when grown and made with restraint, can achieve this. At Koomilya, that journey is more important than ever, so the three blocks of Shiraz remain.

2022 Release
This year marks the fourth release of the three single-block Shiraz wines from the 2022 vintage. Each block is subtly different – in aspect and soil composition – but the winemaking is deliberately similar, allowing each to speak with its own voice.

I suggest tasting them in the order presented, so that you can experience what we are striving to achieve: preserving the landscape, and expressing the unique aromas and flavours that are unmistakably Upper Tintara and undeniably Koomilya.

– Stephen Pannell

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type Red
Body Full Bodied
Variety Shiraz
Country Australia
Region McLaren Vale
Australian State SA
Reviewed By The Real Review
Halliday Wine Companion
Critic Score 97
Alcohol 14%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2022
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S.C. Pannell

Quite simply, Stephen Pannell is one of Australia’s finest and most imaginative winemakers. He’s a Jimmy Watson Trophy winner, a McLaren Vale Bushing King winner, a two-time Max Schubert Trophy winner, International Red Winemaker of the Year and Decanter Magazine’s 50 Most Influential Contributors to the World of Wine. Nick Stock described him as potentially “one of the greatest Australian winemakers ever to make wines in our age”.

Steve’s wines are made with modern Australian food and wine culture at the front of mind. The wines come from a range of stunning McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills vineyards, and are made from sustainable varieties that properly suit his South Australian climate. They're built around brightness of fruit and savoury tannin structure, and whatever your poison is Steve has you covered!

He is truly one of the most forward-thinking and inspirational Australian winemakers alive today.

Visionary winemaker Stephen Charles Pannell Discover S.C. Pannell

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