Purple Soul wines make a serious statement

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend "a wine evening of elegance and indulgence" - which sounded right up my street.

Unfortunately, the evening was being held in Adelaide, and am usually based in Tasmania, so had to decline.

But given the event was a launch for a wine brand that I had not heard of - Purple Soul Wines - I was intrigued.

It turns out Purple Soul is based in McLaren Vale with a production facility at Loxton, and is owned by the Lim family, who also have business interests in China.

Fifteen years spent mostly in sales and operations for bulk wine producers motivated Jamison Lim to create his own wine brand, Purple Soul, in 2018. He clearly purchased some quality base material as his wines date back to vintage 2019.

He's chosen his support staff well with Oliver Crawford (ex-Devil's Lair and current MD of wine consultancy group Veraise) as winemaker.

The range is built around chardonnay, grenache and shiraz from the Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale respectively.

Each wine has a name derived from Greek mythology. And as well as Purple Soul, the Lim family also has wine brands in China, Chile, and Italy.

I think they'll be selling a lot of their wine in China as they have done well in several Chinese wine shows, and the ornate packaging is eye-catching.

The first wine I tried - the plummy and turbo-charged 2019 Anchor of Oceanus McLaren Vale Shiraz ($60) - is clearly aimed at lovers of big, macho alcoholic styles. It is described as "bold and only for the brave". It is huge - with 16.7% alcohol by volume.  

Much more to my personal taste were the 2023 Harp of Gaea Barossa Grenache ($60) and the 2023 Sphere of Uranus Adelaide Hills Chardonnay ($60), much more traditional in style abut both full of flavour. 

These are wines that make a serious statement. See https://purple-soul.com.au/