Torbreck The Struie / 2024 / 750mL

The Torbreck The Struie 2024 is a Shiraz from the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley in South Australia, built as much on lift and spice as it is on dark fruit weight. Torbreck draws on Eden Valley fruit for structure and aromatics and Barossa Valley parcels for richness, giving a wine that feels powerful without turning heavy.

Blueberry, mulberry and black plum come first, trailed by cracked pepper, dried thyme and a sweet cedary note from eighteen months in a mix of seasoned and new French oak barriques. The 2024 season helped here: timely spring rainfall and a calm flowering ran into a mild to warm summer, and that even ripening shows as clarity and fragrance rather than sheer jammy concentration.

Medium to full-bodied across the palate, with fine-grained tannin that grips gently at the edges and acidity that keeps the fruit moving. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, The Struie carries a savoury, faintly earthy undertow beneath the dark fruit, and the finish is long, spiced and dry.

Pour it with a standing rib roast, lamb shoulder slow-cooked with rosemary and anchovy, kangaroo fillet with beetroot, or a well-aged cheddar. Sausages off the barbecue with charred onion do the job just as happily on a weeknight.

Drink from now through to around 2038, with a decant helping in its youth. The mid-weight build and firm acid line suggest the best drinking sits between 2028 and 2034.