Purple Palate

The Provident is Soul Growers' take on a modern Barossa Shiraz. Built around ripe, dark fruits, leather and black pepper, it has generous texture and a nerve of sour, red-fruit acidity (thanks to a judicious dose of Grenache) which brings an element of brightness. In 2009, an excellent vintage, the fruit has been softened for eighteen months in used American oak, during which time it seems to have refined its powers, delivering an inky, complex, perfumed expression of the Barossa. The result is a firm, classic Shiraz with firm tannins that promise to preserve it as many layers unfold over a decade.-NT