Pertaringa 2019 YEOMAN wine review

Bec Hardy.

This is a single vineyard Shiraz from the Lesley vineyard in McLaren Vale South Australia. The Osmond family who own the Lesley vineyard don't know the exact age of these vines, all they know is that they are more than 140 years old. The vineyard is located north of McLaren Flat where the old, gnarled vines produce some of the most amazing quality grapes with beautiful concentrated fruit.

In 1980, Bec’s father Geoff left the then family-owned Hardy's to make his own way in the Australian wine world. Inspired by her father’s passion for cultivating premium fruit and producing fine wines, Bec also went on to study and work in the wine industry in both Australia and overseas, including for her father’s company Wines by Geoff Hardy.

The real Bec Hardy wine story starts in 2015 when Bec decided to make her way in the Australian wine world and founded Bec Hardy Wines. In 2020, she acquired the Pertaringa wine brand from Wines by Geoff Hardy, becoming the first woman in the family to own vineyards and produce her own wines.

Bec’s family has been tending vineyards in McLaren Vale since the early 1850s when her great-great-great grandfather, Thomas Hardy, arrived from the UK and Bec is a 6th generation member of and the first female vigneron from the Hardys, one of Australia’s oldest wine families.

Let's get on to the wine itself. This premium Shiraz has beautiful luscious blackberry fruit, backed by some toasty, earthy, and spicy notes. There are also some herbs and vanilla-chocolatey oak influence. The palate is equally plush and has a medium-dense palate weight. The fruit is framed by somewhat drying, but silky smooth velvety tannins. A beautiful example of what a premium Shiraz with restrained power and elegance can be. Beautifully balanced—bang on its stride—drop, that would not be hurt from another few years in the bottle but in this case, we would say if you have one of these beautiful wines, make a plan to drink it. The 2019 Pertaringa YEOMAN by Bec Hardy is way too good at the moment to throw the dice on more positive evolution. Just drink it!

This was a hard wine to rate on our scale as at the moment of first drinking, we were completely under its spell. We did make some unintentional noises but in reflection and after some coming back down to earth, we have settled on a rating of two stars ** and a 9 - awesome, dam near perfect from our scale.