Westend Estate The Boxer Durif 2016

The Boxer is made purely from Durif, a grape that originated in southern France, but has come up trumps in Australia’s warm climate, losing its rustic, hard edges and gaining masses of luscious black fruit character. Surprisingly it still makes up only a mere 0.2% of Australia’s plantings. Bill Calabria is the super talented winemaker behind The Boxer. His parents emigrated from Italy in the 1940s and founded the Westend Estate in Riverina, New South Wales. Bill prides himself on the quality of the grapes he uses, and by keeping yields down (as much as a third less than the norm) he gains impressive concentration in his wines. This weighty, full throttle red shows best besides hearty food – roast red meats or game pie would be ideal.