PETER LEHMANN | Portrait | Barossa | Shiraz | 2017
syrah

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Today we are going to review another single varietal syrah wine, this time one from Australia‘s famous Barossa Valley – Portrait Barossa Shiraz 2017 by Peter Lehmann. In a world where bolder is better, syrah is the perfect choice, as it is darker and spicier than cabernet sauvignon and contains a high amounts of health-invigorating antioxidants. This shiraz wine has been aged in  big oak hogsheads for 12 months prior to bottling. Syrah, also known as ‘Shiraz’, can be vinified in two major styles: old-world style and new-world style. The old-world syrah wines tend to have more acidity and earthy-herbaceous aromas, while the new-world shiraz wines are usually fruit-driven with lots of spice. That said, without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

Visual
Deep and noble ruby color, with very opaque ruby-pomegranate hues towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with ripe black fruit flavours: black mulberry, black cherry, blackcurrant, black raspberry, overripe sour cherry, overripe blackberry, black plum, aronia berry, dried black plum and some subtle but elegant hints of violets. An instant later the nose is filled with insistent notes of roasted oakwood, cloves, black pepper, nutmeg, cherry seeds and some nunced hints of tobacco and dark chocolate.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and ripe tannin. It feels firm, noble and well structured, with a quite complex and grippy character. The wine has a nuanced new-world profile, as it eels fruity and expressive, with a very appealing tannic accent. This is a nuanced, ripe and bitter-seedy shiraz wine, with a slightly hot alcoholic warmth on the finish. Overall, the wine has a good balance between primary fruit aromas and oak-infused flavours – this is a fine shiraz wine indeed.

Aftertaste
The wine has a long finish and an elegant, ripe and seedy aftertaste.
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This is definitely an excellent wine of Australia and, with a total of 92.0 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Conclusion: this is a very fine shiraz wine – fruit-forward, firm and noble – one of the best we’ve reviewed so far – a wine that is right there, at the summit of its prime form. It can definitely age for another year or two, yet our recommendation is to drink it sooner rather than later. As we’ve already mentioned before, it is of paramount importance to understand a wine’s limits: there are wines that might gain some much desired elegance and finesse with age, but there are also wines that are elegant enough in their yearly stages and age will only take its toll on them. That said, we would suggest to pair this wine with slightly spicy meaty dishes, especially those that can be prepared on open fire, like for example T-bone steak seasoned with spicy mix or barbequed tomahawk steak. Cheers!

WineStatistics tasting results:

PETER LEHMANN
Portrait | Barossa | Shiraz | 2017

grape: | syrah |

region: Australia | Barossa Valley

overall rating: | 92.0 |

maturity: in its prime

conclusion: excellent | (a must try)

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© The WineStatistics ratings are based solely on our own knowledge of the world of wine and on our personal wine tastes, which may, or may not, differ from yours – the reader. Just remember that there are no absolutes of right and wrong in wine appreciation.