In Tessa’s former life, she made Sagrantino for the Chalmers family who’re renowned for introducing Australian palates to so many Italian varietals over the decades. It was nice to revisit familiar fruit in a year where so much was rather unfamiliar. This is Sagrantino from their Heathcote vineyard.

Sagrantino is an interesting variety having both high levels of fairly powdery tannin and high natural acidity, as well as dense purple to black berry fruit sweetness when ripe. 2020 was obviously a cooler year, but this wine expresses pickled cherry and blackberry juice, star anise and liquorice spice and a range of jubier fruit pastille notes. It’s dense yet fresh with some lavendery florals in the palate and catchy tannins to length. Good ripeness makes this a very drinkable wine for its overt structure and shape.