2024 Vanguardist V Syrah

96 pts
A contemporary, medium-bodied Barossa Syrah with intense dark fruit and spice. Not your average Barossa Shiraz!

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Sale price$74.00
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Description

Michael Corbett is a wizard when it comes to flipping expectations, and this Barossa Syrah is the perfect example. While the Barossa is usually synonymous with "big" Shiraz, Michael approaches it through his signature lens of restraint and precision. Sourced from the McKenzie vineyard in Ebenezer, this comes from nine-generation farmers working sandy clay loam over solid limestone.

The 2024 season was a low-yield, high-quality affair. Windy conditions during flowering meant fewer bunches, but the fruit that remained had incredible intensity and deep colour. Michael hand-picked in mid-February (very early for the Barossa!), using about a third whole bunches and fermenting gently for a month. It then spent 15 months in two puncheons - one new and one older - giving it just enough frame without burying the fruit in oak.

When we sat down to taste this, it felt like a Barossa Shiraz made specifically for people who don't usually like Barossa Shiraz. It’s a lighter shade of the Barossa but remarkably drinkable and complex, sitting at a nimble 13.1% alcohol. It's got plenty of spice and dark fruit, but it’s the fine tannins and "rocky" mineral energy from that calcrete soil that really stand out. It’s a contemporary, sophisticated take on the region. Always full of surprises is Michael Corbett.

96 points
"This sits no more than medium in weight, sketched in charcoal and pencil rather than splashed with colour. There’s fruit intensity, concentration, but like other wines of the stable, spice and savouriness and structure are the guiding principles... Tannins, as always, are detailed, carefully extracted, compellingly instructive, leading to the table."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

95+ points
"Some orange peel and floral mouth-perfume, finish has a boysenberry crispness, sappiness and excellent length. Engaging wine. Different. There’s so many layers to it. Give it some time, I’d say, though there’s no shortage of interest now."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

96 points - "From Ebenezer, planted to sandy clay loam with fragmented ironstone over limestone. This sits no more than medium in weight, sketched in charcoal and pencil rather than splashed with colour. There’s fruit intensity, concentration, but like other wines of the stable, spice and savouriness and structure are the guiding principles. Blackberry, dried olive, a mulberry tang to the palate, with a sultry detailing of dry spices, clove, allspice, whole pepper and the like. Faded violet, blood and rust, cured meat, dried blood orange. Layered and complex, a saline, Dutch-licorice edge to the palate. Tannins, as always, are detailed, carefully extracted, compellingly instructive, leading to the table." - Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

95+ points - "Ebenezer. One third whole bunch. Raised in two puncheons, one new and one two years old.

Blackberry, raspberry, lots of dusty spices, terracotta, orange peel, a coffee ground earthiness, violet. It’s medium-bodied, quite firm, a juiciness and freshness to acidity, a firm grain to tannin, cherry with an earthy character, some orange peel and floral mouth-perfume, finish has a boysenberry crispness, sappiness and excellent length. Engaging wine. Different. There’s so many layers to it. Give it some time, I’d say, though there’s no shortage of interest now." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

The Vanguardist range represents the epitome of what we are about. Pushing the realms of standard winemaking to deliver intrigue, excitement and full recognition of this special and distinct terroir. Ultimate dedication to the craft of viticulture and winemaking, encapsulated in a bottle – through our lens.


SINGLE SITE: MCKENZIE VINEYARD, VINE VALE, BAROSSA VALLEY

Syrah is the Barossa’s defining variety, and after more than seven years of our winery being based in the region, this wine represents a natural evolution of our relationship with place. We have spent time getting to know the land and growers, so this wine is our own Vanguardist response: a Barossa Shiraz interpreted through our signature Syrah lens. While unmistakably regional in terrior, it is made with Michael’s delicate precision and restraint, offering a contemporary expression that both respects tradition and challenges expectation.

VINEYARD:
The McKenzie family has been involved in agriculture for nine generations. Located in Ebenezer, at the northernmost reaches of the Barossa Valley.

The soil profile consists primarily of well-drained sandy clay loam over a solid limestone or calcrete pan, with a defining presence of ironstone fragments and red-brown earth. These highly aerobic soils offer excellent mineral-holding capacity, contributing to depth, structure, and longevity in the resulting wines.

VINTAGE:
2024 vintage in the Barossa is characterized by exceptional quality, intense color, and rich tannins, despite low yields caused by windy conditions during flowering.

HARVEST:
Hand harvested on the 13th February 2024.

VINIFICATION:
Approximately one-third of the fruit was retained as whole bunches and was fermented gently for one month before drain and press. The wine was then matured for 15 months in two puncheons, one new and the other two years old, before being racked in early spring in preparation for bottling in December.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Closure: DIAM Origine 10
FS02: at bottling 23ppm
TSO2: 42ppm
pH: 3.65
TA: 5.9g/L
Alcohol: 13.1%

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Shiraz
Country Australia
Region Barossa Valley
Australian State SA
Feature High Score
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Halliday Wine Companion
Critic Score 96
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure DIAM Cork

Vanguardist

Vanguardist is an up and coming producer from McLaren Vale started by three friends after many long nights in Hawkes Bay talking about their shared love of wine.

Their mission is to bring premium, authentic, small-batch wines to a market they see as crowded by "overly commercialised wines produced by corporates who take up all the elbow room."

They source very high-quality fruit from great vineyards across South Australia, looking to build wines with texture and vibrancy.

With experienced winemaker Michael Corbett at the helm, the future looks bright for this plucky challenger brand.

Winemaker Michael Corbett Vanguardist

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