Castagna, Genesis Syrah, Beechworth, South Australia, 2013

Julian Castagna's eponymous estate sits at 500m above sea level near Beechworth, in the foothills of the Victorian Alps. He is devoted to operating in accordance to biodynamics, although he’s not convinced by the spiritual side of the movement, merely seeing it as a farming practice which enables him to extract the very best from his land: ‘Our intention is to make a wine which is an expression of the place where it is grown, and this is the best way to achieve optimum fruit quality that best expresses its terroir,’ he says, as evidenced by the Genesis, whose fruit is lovingly cared for and aged in fine-grained French oak. Tina Gellie: A really vital, lifted wine with elegant, savoury fruit dancing on a silky palate. What a joy after so many over-oaked examples! It has a supple, velvety mouthfeel and beautiful purity of red fruits, supported by dusty, spicy oak. Delicious. Roger Jones: A savoury, whole-bunch style, the stalkiness carried well by the fruit. I love the perfumed, fruity element on the palate, which shows fine evolution. Anthony Rose: There's lots of energy and verve to the medium-bodied, charmingly textured raspberry red fruit, which is tinged with spice. It displays nicely evolving tannins and juicy acidity, and comes as something of a surprise in this line-up of big-hitters and traditionalists. But it's a spot-on, classy surprise.