Layer Cake Shiraz, 2021, South Australia

 



I enjoyed this Australian Shiraz. It was a little rough around the edges but was spicy and went down well. Another wine imported in bulk and bottled in the U.S, A good buy at Grocery Outlet for $3.99. Alcohol 13.5%

Imported by Vintage Wine Estates, Santa Rosa, California, formerly a top-15 US wine producer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2024, leading to a liquidation of assets and sale of its 30+ brands, including B.R. Cohn, Kunde, and Girard. The company, which went public in 2021, suffered from high debt and failed to turn around its portfolio. Key brands were sold to new ownership, including Foley Family Wines and Jayson Adair.

Bottled by Layer Cake, Hopland, Calfiornia. https://www.layercakewines.com/. Their explanation of this wine is:

"For our Shiraz, we pull from vineyards in McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley—from the sandy-soiled blocks on the sea coast of Gulf St. Vincent to the Terra Rosabased, tiny-berried, wind-blown rolling hills in the Barossa Zone. The microclimates give us a broad array of flavors to blend into a complex, rich, full wine.

South Australia is arguably one of the top Shiraz-growing regions of the world. Within SA, the McLaren Vale and the Barossa are the most diverse and historic sub-regions, with vines dating back to the 1830s. The microclimates within these areas are what give Layer Cake Shiraz its complexity. The McLaren Vale is bordered on one side by water and the other by an ancient mountain range – Gulf St. Vincent and the Adelaide Hills, in this case. The Vale is moderated in temperature by the sea, as the warm air gets trapped in pockets of the undulating hills. These blocks have deeper soils and produce wines with big, mouth-filling fruit. The Barossa has shallow red soils with limestone underneath and is directly in the path of the brutal heat and dust storms that emanate from the Great Australian Outback. The vines struggle to survive, producing tiny berries with thick skins and wines with big structure and intensity.

The aromas of cocoa, warm spice and dark fruit are very powerful from the first whiff. In the mouth, the wine is layered with rich blackberry, dark cherries and hints of dark, creamy chocolate ganache. The finish lingers on, hanging on your palate while the fruit and spice flavors slowly change and fade."

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