This Stonehaven Shiraz achieves remarkable balance despite its powerful character through extended skin contact and barrel fermentation techniques. While many full-bodied wines can feel heavy or overwhelming, the velvety tannins and bright natural acidity create a lively structure that prevents the wine from becoming cumbersome. James Halliday's 96-point rating reflects how these winemaking elements work synergistically rather than simply showcasing technical prowess.

The Limestone Coast's unique terroir contributes significantly to this wine's complex flavour development, particularly the dark chocolate and blackberry notes. The region's limestone-rich soils provide excellent drainage while retaining enough moisture for steady ripening, allowing the Shiraz grapes to develop concentrated flavours without losing the natural acidity that gives this wine its lively finish. The maritime influence from nearby coastal areas helps moderate temperatures, preserving the allspice complexity alongside the rich fruit characters.

The allspice character makes this Shiraz particularly suited to dishes with warming spices like slow-cooked lamb tagine or beef short ribs with star anise. The dark chocolate undertones create beautiful harmony with game meats such as venison or duck, especially when prepared with berry-based sauces that echo the blackberry flavours. Aged hard cheeses like vintage cheddar or gouda also complement both the wine's richness and its spice complexity.

While this Shiraz is completely delicious now, its balanced structure and velvety tannins suggest excellent cellaring potential over the next 8-12 years. The bright natural acidity acts as a preservative, allowing the complex flavours to integrate further and develop additional tertiary characters. Drinking it young showcases the vibrant fruit and spice, while cellaring will reward patience with greater complexity and smoother tannin integration.

Extended skin contact involves leaving the grape skins in contact with the juice for longer than typical fermentation periods, extracting deeper colour, more complex tannins, and enhanced flavour compounds. In this Shiraz, this technique contributes to the wine's rich blackberry intensity and the development of those distinctive dark chocolate notes. Combined with barrel fermentation, it creates the velvety tannin structure that allows such a big wine to remain balanced and approachable rather than harsh or overpowering.