Peccavi The Estate Merlot 2020

Either the best or the second-best Australian merlot ever released. I’m uncertain which because I’ve given it the same score as the 2018 edition of the same wine, but haven’t tasted them together. Either way, Australian wine should celebrate that it has a merlot able to punch it out with all but the very finest from Pomerol. Deeply perfumed, with heady layers of violets, dark cherries, blueberries, mulberries and dark plums tightly knit with cedar/cigarboxy oak, it reveals nuances of musk, dark chocolate and mineral. Fullish to medium in weight and underpinned by a firm, gravelly spine, its core of faintly sour-edged fruit and meaty, briary complexity drives long and sumptuous towards a lingering, stony and savoury finish. It flaunts its varietal purity, polish and finesse. Perfectly ripened and pristine, it’s artfully balanced and ready to enjoy. Or to open anytime over the next 30 years or more.