Chapel Hill

The Devil Shiraz 2021

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  Vintage 2021
  96 points Halliday Wine Companion

From a single block of '77-planted vines; 100% French Oak, 23% new for 20 months. This is the second pinnacle release from the estate’s oldest vines and, for me, a step up from what was a very good debut. Darkly fruited but open and expressive, detailed and very long through the finish, the tannins finely tooled, the whole package feeling intently of a significant piece of earth, with nothing over polished or worked. Blackberry and dried black cherry, sour cherry, too, bitter chocolate and anise, the palate textural rather than overly rich, though it certainly has some growl, power and tannic drive to it. Very good indeed.

• 

  Vintage 2021
  98 points

Michael Fragos has devoted more than two decades to perfecting Shiraz at Chapel Hill, and The Devil is his crowning achievement, testimony to his philosophy that ‘the devil is in the detail’. Sourced from Road Block, the finest vineyard of the estate, this is an exemplar of the grand juxtapositions that make McLaren Vale Shiraz so exciting. Iodine and salt bush tell the story of an ancient land on the edge of the Southern Ocean. And what I love most is that amidst such grand concentration, long-enduring potential and haunting persistence, it presents seamlessly-polished calm, graceful flow and enticing deliciousness. Reviewed by Tyson Stelzer