Fairview, Paarl (South Africa) Shiraz 2008

This wine is ripe, soft, pleasantly earthy and fully mature, though hardly spent or on the downhill slide. The texture is rounded and pleasingly polished without seeming formless or lacking in structure, and earthy notes recalling wild mushrooms and cured meat are very appealing. The tannins are very ripe and soft, and there’s just a hint of alcoholic heat in the finish, but this definitely doesn’t compromise the wine’s overall performance.