Gemtree Wines Obsidian Shiraz 2019

98 Points - Stuart McCloskey “Pull up a chair as this is going to be a long one! What an incredible bouquet, exquisite in fact. Occasionally, you get the opportunity to sit down with a wine which provides a story – similar to a novel that you can’t put down. You race through the chapters as you wish to reach the climax, and when you do, you are saddened by having rushed the experience. Here is no different, but I would suggest spending the entire afternoon and evening with this one. The bouquet is utterly thrilling and lucid – the fruit is deep, sweet and contrasts between mulberry and damson, leading to blueberry compote and then moving to red varietals. Sweet spices exude with cinnamon and anise. The floral lift from lavender and violets is beautiful and the white pepper seasons the bouquet perfectly. Even at this tender age, the palate is a textural dream, there’s grip from the tannin and bountiful amounts of acidity – plushness too. Very Margaret River in this aspect. It’s incredibly succulent with a fresh cool feel to the fruit, the brightness is mouth-watering from start to finish. This is ultra-pure, vibrant, perfectly poised and full of detail, almost classic-like, but the depth and intensity of the fruit removes that label. Mulberry, boysenberry and ripe raspberry flow along with a cooling mineral feel. The tussle between power and finesse is a gentle one but fascinating nonetheless – incredibly skilful winemaking and viticulture. Without being too obvious, the biodynamic influence is centre stage and shows the world how amazing natural wines can be. As I stated at the beginning, get comfortable, decant for a few hours, drink this on the ‘cooler’ side of room temperature and bask in a beautiful wine. Profoundly beautiful and a story in its own right… Drink now to 2035. Served using Zalto Bordeaux glassware.” Sampled July 2021.