ON THE TRAIL OF A FLAGSHIP SHIRAZ

CAROLINE Dunn has once again melded the very best of Clare Valley fruit and her own unique skills to create the 2002 Copper Trail Shiraz, the flagship wine of the Annie’s Lane label.

She first selected small parcels of fruit from individual vineyards, and then used small-batch open fermenters to keep these parcels separate, so that each vineyard’s unique characteristics could be brought to the fore. The wines then had 22-months in a combination of new and seasoned French and American oak barrels.

All this resulted in beautifully rich blackberry, violet and dark chocolate aromas, and well-balanced ground coffee, mineral and berry characters, velvety tannins and a silky texture on the palate.

This a deservedly flagship wine that’s a delight to enjoy now, or think about tucking it away in the cellar to further develop over the next six to eight years.

The $53.99 price is not cheap, but for such a rewarding wine is well worth it for that special occasion lunch or dinner; share it with friends over a good char-grilled steak with garlic and herb butter or peppercorn sauce.

(If you’re wondering about the Copper Trail name, it goes back to a route forged by prospectors following the discovery of copper at Burra in the late 1840s; the Trail passed through what are today the Annie’s Lane vineyards.)