Place of Changing Winds Harcourt Syrah 2021

Place of Changing Winds is a high-density vineyard located on the southern foothills of Mount Macedon in central Victoria, Australia. The name comes from the original inhabitants, the Wurundjeri people, who named this place Warekilla or Place of Changing Winds. This description still holds true today. Place of Changing Winds make two sets of wines: Estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from their own vines, and Syrah and Marsanne from two grower vineyards.

The Estate wines comes exclusively from Place of Changing Winds property. The altitude is 500 metres above sea level and the vines are surrounded by native plantings and thousands of hectares of forest. It’s a genuinely cool site, with good rain, cold nights and a wide diurnal range. One of the most distinctive features of our vineyard is the high density. There are almost 45,000 vines planted across 3.1 hectares, with densities of mostly 12,000 and 14,000 vines per hectare, but also significant plots at 20,000, 25,000 and 33,000 vines per hectare. The team at Place of Changing Winds have developed a system of agronomic practice that is adapted specifically to their winery. It is a meticulous viticulture with no synthetic chemicals used and a great deal of manual labour. The cellar is also next to the vines, meaning the fruit goes directly to the fermenters in a matter of minutes. They manage everything on site ourselves, including bottling. The Estate Series wines, then, reflect both the vineyards and our their compromise approach.

Place of Changing Winds also produces Syrah and Marsanne from two vineyards further north. One vineyard is located in the Heathcote region, on the famed red ‘Cambrian’ soils of the Mt Camel Ranges. This is a considerably warmer site than their own vineyard and lies about 130km north of the cellars. The second vineyard is in Harcourt, 85km to the north. Harcourt is cooler than Heathcote, yet still warmer than their Estate, and the soils here are pure, granitic sands. Place of Changing Winds was awarded the best new winery of the year 2022 by James Halliday.

The reason the POCW folks went to this vineyard was for the syrah, this being the first of the releases solely from this site, from a singular year. Very floral in the perfume, violets and lavender, whiffs of eucalyptus and loads of raspberry, cherry and strawberry, in a fog of scent too. Lots of concentration to taste but with a glossy wash of acidity under the tart red cherry, game meat, dried herbs and white pepper characters. Beautiful flavours, fine, satiny tannins, great extension of flavour, a cool, minty finish. Spot on medium weight fragrant and spicy style. - Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, 94 Points

Deep red with a tinge of purple and a bouquet that is highly perfumed and emphasising floral/violet and fresh-herb aromas, brooding spices too, while the palate is very full bodied and concentrated, deep and firm, framed in robust tannins. A big strong wine with terrific structure for ageing, the plush fruit balanced perfectly by serious tannins. Impressive shiraz. - #1 2021 Shiraz from Victoria, Huon Hooke, The Real Review, 96 Points

The Finer Details
Style - Red Wine
Varietal - Shiraz
Country - Australia
Region - Heathcote, Victoria
Vintage - 2021
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13.9%
Other - Organic