Sami-Odi. Imagine we just whispered that. Sami-Odi. There it is again. The creed and cult around these wines is off the charts – and rightfully so, they’ve gradually become some of Australia’s most sought after wines. Fraser McKinley and family’s incredible attention to detail and hard work have paid off, and then some. They are a reflection of labour and love and a vision splendid, with grit under the fingernails from rigorous farming included.
Shiraz is the totem, albeit reimagined through creative winemaking application and eking out the maximum detail from each cuvée. While these wines are delicious versions of Barossa’s heartland variety, the wines seem to pulse with energy; they lay down infinitesimal detail of fruit, spice, savouriness, textural nuance and still proudly celebrate a sense of regional typicity. That being said, one could say ‘they’re utterly unique’ in the same breath – umami, bright acidity, coursing minerality, amplitude with tension are all on hand. Stellar stuff.
This 2024 release of wines celebrates the labour of the 2022 harvest. There are, again, only three wines available, of course in minute quantity:
The 2022 Hoffman Dallwitz syrah is produced from a selection of plots from that vaunted vineyard, with plantings from 1888 to 1912, 1927 and 1995 included in the blend. It’s a wine that takes time to open up, rewards cellaring and loves a decant.
The Sami-Odi Little Wine #13 is again a head-spinning blend of winery resources, with barrels from 2023 (27%), 2022 (36%), 2021 (19%), 2020 (7%), 2019 (6%), 2018 (2%), 2017 (1%), 2016 (1%) & 2015 (1%) included this year. It’s hard to imagine what the blending bench has to look like to find the precision required to finish this wine. Go Fraser! A bit more open weave, accessible in some respects, decanting helps and cellaring works, too.
Finally, we have been granted access to the pint-sized release of 2022 Our Hill syrah, the tiny bottling that comes from the McKinley family farm in Angaston, Eden Valley. The yields were very small; the wine, however, is epic and special. It's lithe and shaped with fine tannin, bright fruit, yet shows off nuance of savoury spice and herbal detail. If the regular Sami-Odi wines invoke frenzy, then Our Hill goes to Hunger Games-style hunting level. May the odds be ever in your favour.