The Patriots Merlot 2023

According to Stump’s Aussie winemaker (and thousands of Black Stump customers), when you combine Durif and Shiraz “magical things happen”. Perhaps that explains Black Stump’s splendid two decades of popularity. It's won many Golds along the way too, including TWO (so far) for this 2024 vintage. The wine owes its name to a mythical outback marker of the boundary between the known world and the unknown. Describe anything as the best “this side of the black stump” and you mean it’s reckoned to be unbeatable. How appropriate for an affordable Aussie red of peerless intensity and popularity. Dark Durif, “the grape that takes no prisoners” (The Observer), and dark, juicy Shiraz make a perfect marriage, creating a velvety, voluptuous, and irresistible style. Serve in large glasses with steak and kidney pie or a Sunday roast.