Stable Tales Shiraz 2016

The Stable Tales Shiraz 2016 is bold and intense yet beautifully balanced. Plum and blackberry with a hint of pepper come together along with smooth notes of vanilla and leather. This wine has great complexity but is just simply delicious to drink. Enjoy now, or pop away for a few years to allow the flavours to develop. The tannins in this wine will lend themselves to further ageing if you can wait that long to enjoy this stunning wine!

Last week was one of those weeks where I got to Wednesday and just needed a wine. Luckily there were plenty of great excuses to open a bottle. It was the premiere of the Bachelor Australia which always requires a glass of wine in hand if you ask me. It was also International Shiraz Day on Thursday, and so I thought I should make a start early! So I cracked open this beauty from Stable Tales.

I hadn’t heard of Stable Tales before. Based in McLaren Vale, they only make Shiraz in small batches. But they sent me their 2016, 2017 and 2018 vintages to try and I decided to start with 2016 first. Can I tell you, if the 2016 vintage is anything to go off, these wines are seriously special. As we watched the Bachelor there were more than just the on-screen hearts falling in love. My husband was absolutely blown away by this wine, and I would have been jealous if I didn’t agree with him!

About Stable Tales

Stable Tales started as a horse property in the 1980s and was home to over 20 horses for 36 years. Their horses and vehicles were used from everything from weddings, films, TV, commercials and even used for the Queens Royal Tour of Glenelg in 1986! They were also home to one of South Australia’s prominent brewery’s Clydesdale horse team. Talk about a claim to fame!

The horse business ceased in the late 1990s and the vineyard was planted producing some stunning Shiraz for us all to enjoy. ⁠When the vineyard was planted the horses became weeders and pruners of the property. The last horse Quazi was laid to rest in August 2019. I love the connection with the history of the vineyard that you see in the labels on their beautiful wines.

What I loved about the Stable Tales Shiraz 2016

The Stable Tales Shiraz 2016 is a beautiful Shiraz that delivers on flavour. It is deep purple in the glass and has notes of blackberry, spice and a hint of earthiness on the nose. I also got a nice aroma of vanilla which rounded it all out.

On the palate was where this wine shone. It is full-bodied and rich but has a great balance of acidity and tannin. Juicy up front with intense flavours of plum and blackberry are followed by leather, earth and spice. I loved the vanilla note that also added a bit of richness to the wine. Overall the wine was complex – you kept finding more in every sip. But it was really well balanced, and with the tannins to make it a perfect wine for ageing for years to come. Although it is drinking well now and is quite smooth, I’d love to see how this wine continues to develop over time.

What to enjoy it with

The Stable Tales Shiraz 2016 is full-bodied and should be enjoyed with food like most Shiraz. I don’t think there are any surprises there! But in terms of pairings, you really can’t go past a steak or grilled meat. I think this would be a perfect (and classic) pairing for this wine. Just make sure you save some time to sip and savour the complex flavours in this wine. The first sip of it that my partner had made him exclaim how good it was out loud. I thought there was something wrong with the meal, but it turns out it was the sound of being blown away by how good the wine was!

In summary: Stable Tales Shiraz 2016

The Stable Tales Shiraz 2016 is a beautiful food wine crying out to be paired with a steak. Full-bodied with juicy, rich flavours, this wine is complex yet balanced. Blackberry, plum, spice, vanilla and earth all come together into a taste sensation. I can’t wait to compare this to the other wines that Stable Tales sent. They really are doing one thing and doing it really well!

To purchase this wine visit the Stable Tales website here.

Note: I was sent this wine as a sample. I was under no obligation to post about it.