A healthy, deep ruby with youthful violet rim. Forest Fruits and Black Cherry take the lead with a light floribunda wash in the background. Nice fresh acidity, lightly tannic with good mineral support underpinning an able medium+ body. As a young vintage ’15, it’s really pleasant, pleasingly rotund with a feather dusting of powdered sweet spice and chocolate flake. Really likeable balanced ‘lines and curves’. The fact that this wine only saw steel is very encouraging for Zweigelt. Worthy!! Note to self: Love to taste this one again in 1-2 years to see how its aged. Also gotta check out some oak aged Zweigelt reserves as there appears good potential for this variety to extend beyond its youth.

Medium intensity on the eye, rich ruby tones that again show youth on the violet rim. First whiff offers the flower of youth with dark berried fruits. Soft and warm. The acidity is fresh, although not overly forward and the tannins are light. Delicate spice and ripe fruit come through to round out the feel. Yes, we’re talking balanced. However this isn’t what we would describe as ‘a high wire’ act… As in, there’s not too much tension or suspense. But hey, that’s fine with us. It’s a young 2015, made for the now and as we all know, ‘easy going’ has it upside. Interesting! Would be good to checkout some aged vintages to measure different vintage performance.

Rich ruby verging to light garnet on the rim tells it’s own story. You know that kinda Pinot / Nebbiolo colour intensity, just a little darker. A little slow opening perhaps. Nothing too intense on the nose but you’ll feel some growing complexity. No real fruit to mention. Mostly scented wood, underbrush, subtle spice & faint dried herbs. On the palate is where it wakes up with a fresh attack delivering a memorable zippy mouth-feel. Blackcurrant and spiced blackberry. Just enough tannin and a tasty hickory char to build intrigue. The vapour feedback points us towards secondary and evolutionary notes. We plumped for a Pinot glass as for us anything larger just wouldn’t trap the aromas. While the fruit does subside quickly, the lively acidity remains a lifeline to a real tasty peppery, spiced vibe that follows through. And it goes long where for us it hit some lovely smoked porter and cool coffee notes. Nice trip! We’ve definitely gotta dig out some books to learn about this one, not to mention a few other bottles.