Polygon 3 Grenache fruit grown on a propitiously sited old vine limestone outcrop, flecked with schist and iron. The plot is a meagre 0.274 hectares. Biodynamic farming, a given. 50 percent whole bunch imparts briar and a skein of lithe tannins, embellished with a natural fermentation in a concrete tulip, before 15 months in 10 year-old wood. This is Grenache for Pinot lovers! Transparent. Seville orange, turmeric and scents of the Moroccan souk. Red fruit allusions, too, beamed long by a mellifluous flow of juicy acidity melded to that immaculate veil of tannin, precise, pixelated and succulent. Almost sandy of feel.
Delicate yet formidable, this wine’s dense, multiple layers of complex texture and flavour speak eloquently. There’s fresh raspberry and graphite, rhubarb and red earth, dark plum and ironstone, and a suggestion of sage and nutmeg among blackberry bite, caressed by fine tannins. Sourced from only 200 vines planted in the 1950s, this 0.27ha micro-terroir boasts red-brown earth over limestone with traces of iron, providing fruit of rare depth and concentration. More sensuous and ethereal that its raw-boned sibling Alkina Polygon 5, but their common characteristic is extraordinary length of the purest flavours.
98 points, David Sly, Decanter (January 2022)
Colonel William Light, the South Australian colony’s Surveyor-General, named the Barossa in 1837 after the site of an English victory over the French in the Spanish Peninsular War. In the mid-1800’s Silesian and English immigrants settled in the area. The Barossa itself comprises two distinct sub-regions: Eden Valley and the warmer Barossa Valley floor at 270m.The Barossa Valley enjoys a warm Mediterranean climate characterised by hot dry summers and relatively low rainfall. Cool sea breezes from the Gulf of St Vincent modify the temperature, however hot northerly winds can occasionally dominate creating considerable vine stress. Many older established vineyards are dry-grown, but supplementary irrigation is also extensively used. The valley is comprised of rich brown soils and alluvial sands. A long history of uninterrupted viticulture in the area means the Barossa valley is home to Australia’s largest concentration of old-vine Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre with many over 100 years old. Although most famous for Shiraz, the Barossa can also produce fragrant and deliciously fruity Grenache blends and beautifully rich, chocolatey Cabernet Sauvignons.
