Velvet Legacy This is one of the great names in Australian Shiraz, the flagship Hardy’s red named in honour of Eileen Hardy, the family matriarch and “first lady of Australian wine.” Deep, commanding and built for the long haul, it opens with blackberry, plum and blueberry, then folds into dark chocolate, liquorice, roasted coffee bean, aniseed, musk, fresh-tilled earth and polished oak. The palate is full-bodied, layered and serious, with dense black fruit wrapped in incredibly fine, persistent tannins. There is McLaren Vale power here, but also shape and detail: violet lift, clove, pepper, dark cocoa and a long, savoury finish that feels both luxurious and tightly controlled. This is a wine for decanting, cellaring and bringing out when the table deserves something with real Australian pedigree. For when you want Shiraz with icon status, depth and old-school grandeur.Pairs with beef cheeks, ribeye steak, slow-cooked lamb shoulder, venison, barbecue brisket, mushroom pie, aged cheddar, or hard sheep’s cheese.If this wine were… a portrait, it would be oil on canvas, dark-framed, beautifully lit and impossible to ignore. Hardy’s is one of Australia’s most historic wine names, founded by Thomas Hardy in the 1850s and now woven into the story of South Australian wine. The Eileen Hardy range represents the top of the estate’s selection, with winemakers choosing only the finest parcels to carry her name. The 2019 Shiraz comes from McLaren Vale, including fruit from Upper Tintara vines planted in 1892 and McLaren Flat fruit from the Elliott site, much of it from 57-year-old vines. It was wild fermented in open-top fermenters and matured for 17 months in French oak, 25% new, giving the wine its depth, polish and long-lived structure.
