2018 GR/M, Brash Higgins. Mclaren Vale, Australia

McLaren Vale is on the coast just south east of Adelaide. Hot, but cooled by the coast breezes, it invariably makes wines with very pure, intense fruit.
This comes from a biodynamically farmed vineyard in Blewitt Springs.

70% Grenache, 30% Mataro (aka Mourvèdre); co-fermented, the Mataro in as whole bunches, the Grenache de-stemmed; matured in old French oak for a year.

From their website:
“In 2007, Brad Hickey met Nicole Thorpe. She had deep roots in McLaren Vale, where several generations of her family had worked to provide the local vineyards with much-needed water. He was a resolute wanderer, whose journey through food and drink had taken him from his home in Chicago, to Paris, to Portland, to New York City flourishing as head sommelier under 2 Star Michelin Chef David Bouley, and finally, to Australia, where he’d come to work his first vintage. After they met at the romantic Alma Hotel in McLaren Vale in 2007, Brad decided to stick around for awhile, was given the nickname “Brash” by the Aussie pruners that welcomed him to the land, and has been a fixture in the Australian wine scene ever since.”
Although this is a relatively conventional blend, they specialise in unusual varieties (particularly Nero D’Avola), often made in clay amphorae.”

Big, spicy and flavoursome; but plenty of complexity and interest too.