Tin Shed 'Melting Pot' Shiraz 2023

Fruit off older Barossa blocks, wild-fermented in small open vessels and rested in seasoned French oak. Plum, cracked pepper and spice with ripe tannin that stays out of the way. Reliable mid-tier Barossa.

Multiple Barossa Valley growers feed this wine, all older vines farmed with a light hand rather than heavy inputs. Chef-turned-winemaker Peter Clarke set the label up in his backyard shed in 1998. Claire Doughty and her family took over running Tin Shed in 2019, and Clarke still has a hand in the winemaking.

The ferment is wild, in small open vessels plunged by hand instead of pumped over. Time in seasoned French oak, twelve to eighteen months, none of it new, leaves room for the plum, cracked pepper and spice to lead. Tannin here is ripe, not gripping, already folded into the fruit.

Pull the cork ahead of time and let it breathe. It's built for the grill, burgers and steak alike, with enough structure to sit in a cupboard for a few years if you'd rather wait.