The Occam's Razor Shiraz 2023 is a medium to full-bodied Heathcote Shiraz built on dark fruit and savoury edges rather than sweetness or weight for its own sake. Emily Laughton's label takes its name from the philosopher's principle of least intervention, and the 2023 follows a mild, later-ripening Victorian season that has given the wine perfume and freshness alongside its depth.

Blackberry, dark plum and satsuma plum lead the aroma, trailed by cracked pepper, dried herbs and a whiff of cured meat. Air brings out violets and a faint iodine, earthy note that keeps the fruit honest.

The palate is fleshy through the middle without going soft, with fine, dusty tannin drawing across the tongue and acidity that stays lively right to the back. A slightly gritty, mineral finish carries dark fruit, walnut husk and spice, and the wine gains shape rather than richness as it sits in the glass.

Pour it with slow-cooked lamb shoulder, a rare porterhouse with pepper sauce, mushroom and barley risotto, or a wedge of hard sheep's milk cheese. Smoky, charred food suits the savoury side of this Shiraz particularly well.

Drinking well from now with an hour's air or a decant, and the tannin and acid structure should see the 2023 hold and develop through to around 2033.