According to The Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory, 2015 (published by Wine Titles Media) there were 83 wine producers using Zinfandel in a straight varietal or blended wines. Seems quite a few, but then put that against 1954 for Shiraz and it means there are bugger all. This wine may actually have the most amount of “Z’s” on one label in Australia.

Hazel’s vineyard is a “north facing slope of ironstone gravels on a tributary of the Upper Chapman Brook.”

McHenry Hohnen, Hazel’s Vineyard, Zinfandel, Margaret River 2013

French oak maturation. Bloody, brambly and heady. Rich Christmas cake spice and plenty of dark raspberry, blackberry and blackcurrant. Acidity is relatively high, keeping it fresh whilst there’s a element of tannin dryness to frame the depth of the fruit. A classy point of difference when Zinfandels can be over oaked syrupy monsters.

RRP: $45

Alc: 14.5%

Wines sample courtesy of McHenry Hohnen