The cool 2023 season delivered a medium weight and juicy wine with aromatics of dark rose, licorice and tea characters. Underneath, classic western ridge depth is displayed with violet perfume and purple fruit, wrapped around a schistic, rocky core.

Alkina is a new story on an old place. Our certified organic and biodynamic farm sits on the traditional lands of the Ngadjuri people and we seek to honour the land’s Indigenous history and to learn from their deep connection to country. We have 43 hectares of vines planted to Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro and Semillon, with the oldest vines dating from the 1950s.

Fruit for 2023 Kin Shiraz came from younger estate plantings and was picked between 23 and 26 March. Block 23, lying on schist and clay, provides energy and structure, making up 56% of the blend. Polygon 10 (on limestone (9%)) and Polygon 14 (on clay (14%)) bring depth and cool intensity. The blend is completed by Shiraz from Block 38 (on silt and sandstone) and Mataro (8%).

Even though 2023 will generally go down as a cool, wet and challenging year, we’re delighted with the results. Freshness and purity are hallmarks of the vintage. Our healthy organic vineyard showed its resilience against mildew and other dangers and the late start to the season meant flavour and sugar ripeness dovetailed nicely. Most of our fruit came in over an intense 11 day period in late March before the weather turned cold and wet again.

Each block of Shiraz was fermented separately with differing levels of whole bunch according to geology of the soil. Block 23 and Polygon 10 were fermented as 80% and 100% whole bunch, with a total of three weeks on skins before pressing to concrete tulip. Fleshy fruit from Polygon 14 and Block 38 were fermented as 50% and 30% whole bunches, before pressing to large format oak for maturation. All Mataro was destemmed and fermented and matured in concrete. All ferments wild.