Bekkers McLaren Vale Syrah 2012
Toby and Emmanuelle Bekkers sent me their first ever release of this wine (the stunning 2011 vintage) back in December 2012 and there is a write up on my website. Sadly, this wine wasn’t retailed in the UK, otherwise you would have read about it on this page. Fifteen cases of the 2012 vintage are arriving at Atlas Fine Wines in a few weeks time and so I am thrilled to let you know about this exceptional Syrah. Australia is teeming with winemaking talent and there are so many great wines to savour, but there is an elite band of young people making guaranteed- future-cult-wines who I am keeping a very close eye on. This wine is one of the most arresting creations I have seen this year. I have been sitting on this note since May, so I am trying to choose my 200 words carefully. Suffice to say that this Syrah is impeccably balanced, showing mercurial skill in every gentle wave of flavour lapping along its minutes long palate. This calibre of earth, spice, oak control and fruit quality is rare anywhere in the world, but virtually unheard of in McLaren Vale. It is a near perfect interpretation, by its makers, of its vineyards and I adore it.
Matthew Jukes
Money Week. (U.K.)