2017 Keyneton Estate Euphonium

I am particularly partial to Keyneton Euphonium, and it is a genuinely noble creation in 2017. The 2017 is a tighter, more structured style than the expansive 2016, and yet I like it enormously for very different reasons. There is no need for this blend to load muscle and weight on the palate, even though many wines do just this. Imagine, if you will, a KE sporting a perfectly tailored three-piece suit, broad across the shoulders and nipped in at the waist – this is the silhouette of 2017 Euphonium. Elegant, controlled and suave, this is a perfumed wine with a gorgeous, smoky, red-fruited feel. The acidity is mouth-watering, making this intense red wine feel refreshing and savoury. I am extremely impressed and if you consider the diminutive price tag, this is a work of genius. While I appreciate that it could not be more different in delivery than the mighty 2016, I find its balance and elegance exceptionally alluring. You could indeed open a bottle today and enjoy the flavours from the off, but there is a rigidity and poise here buried in its core that will enable this wine to mellow for a good ten to fifteen years.

Very good deep red colour with a good purple tint. The bouquet is sweetly raspberry-ish and very Eden Valley in style, earthy-spicy also, with a bouquet of dried herbs and dried flowers, especially sage. The wine is deliciously fruit-sweet and almost lush in the mouth, the masses of fine, subtly drying tannins keeping the finish and aftertaste neat and disciplined. A lovely wine, approachable already but certainly built to last and will be better if you can keep your hands off it a few years.

Full screwcapped bottle 1,283 g. This is not a single-vineyard release but was included in my box of samples by UK importer Liberty Wines (the 2018 is already released in Australia). 62% Shiraz, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 3% Merlot from Eden Valley and Barossa Valley. Aged for 18 months in 85% French and 15% American oak of which 19% was new. For more background see this wine of the week . Stephen Henschke reiterates that, although this blend contains quite a portion of grapes bought in, including some from Barossa Valley, the growers of them tend to be friends of the family. Although this is different in its ingredients, this wine very much exhibits the subtle, polished, Henschke style of winemaking with freshness and salinity and perfectly ripened fruit with a super-clean finish. It may not be quite as long as the single-vineyard wines but the pricing is fair relative to them. (JR)