The Le Vieux Pin wines come with lots of information on their labels – and this one is made from grapes grown at Dead Man Lake and the Black Sage Bench near Oliver.

Grown on mostly sandy gravel, clay and shale, there were 975 cases made. Unfined and unfiltered, there was a lot of sediment and we probably should have decanted to avoid that.

We enjoyed it, with spaghetti, fresh tomato sauce and bbq’d spicy chicken sausage.

A deep ruby core moving to a thick pink rim, it showed significant field berries, plums, black pepper and spice – cloves.  It’s slender and more elegant than a ‘new world’ styled Syrah.

Deep with soft, integrated tannins, this is a WSET Good wine.