Dense, succulent and powerful, with Dutch cocoa powder, sarsaparilla, toffee and fresh rosemary accents to the core of lush black cherry, blackberry and blueberry flavors. Presents plush and velvety tannins, which provide a supple frame for this red's complexity and power. Drink now through 2039. Points: 95/100
Aromas of crushed plums, blackberries, ground clove and grilled rosemary. Forest. Mushroom. Bark. Leafy. Full-bodied with slightly chewy tannins. Lovely density and concentration here with the fruit remaining fresh and succulent throughout. Subtle, but complex spice and herbs as well. Delicious. Best after 2025. Screw cap. Points: 94/100
Spice, paprika and pepper, blue and black fruits, meaty and more than a little nutty. It’s meaty and savoury, dried herbs, some aniseed perfume, a fine chalky chew to tannin, a little vanilla/cedar oak, a whole lot of dry spices, and black olive, with fresh acidity and a saline and pepper-laced finish of excellent length. Slightly baked in flavour profile, but convincing all the same. Points: 93/100
A sumptuous wine that manages to hold its cards of spice and flamboyant fruits close to a chest of riches. Unirrigated blocks contribute. 50% of the cuve was crushed to open-tops, resplendent with 20% whole bunches; 20 days on skins, extended time on lees and élévage in both new and used puncheons, before a blending of the best to a foudre and concrete egg. This sits on a diplomatic cushion between the Rhône-inflected contemporary styles that splay pepper, clove and blue fruits about the mouth, and a richer, more lustrous regional note. The tannins etch the cheeks and wind down the side of the tongue, keeping to the path of righteousness. Fine indeed. Points: 95/100
Named after the road where the vineyard is located in McLaren Vale, the various blocks which provide the grapes for this wine were planted between 1971 and 2002. Unirrigated, the grapes are hand-harvested and the yields are seriously low. 30% destemmed, 20% whole bunch and the remainder crushed to open top fermenters, the wine spent around 20 days on skins, before being drained directly to barrels – 1/3rd new French oak puncheons with the lees, the rest one or two years of age, for ten months. After blending, the wine was returned to older foudre and a concrete egg for a further 8 months. The result is a wine which is opaque purple. We have deep perfumes here; plums, chocolate, mocha and mulberries. There is nicely integrated oak and we see the arrival of blueberry notes. This is utterly delicious. Seamless on the palate, nicely balanced, through to plush tannins. There is great length to be found in this wine. Youthful but already a joy to drink, ten years if needed. Love it. Points: 96/100
A sumptuous wine that manages to hold its cards of spice and flamboyant fruits close to a chest of riches. Unirrigated blocks contribute. 50% of the cuve was crushed to open-tops, resplendent with 20% whole bunches; 20 days on skins, extended time on lees and élévage in both new and used puncheons, before a blending of the best to a foundre and concrete egg. This sits on a diplomatic cushion between the Rhône-inflected contemporary styles that splay pepper, clove and blue fruits about the mouth, and a richer, more lustrous regional note. The tannins etch the cheeks and wind down the side of the tongue, keeping to the path of righteousness. Fine indeed. Points: 95/100
Very deep red/purple colour, with a very rich, deep aroma of dark plum and blackberry, with latent spices emerging the more the glass was worked. Some subtle bunchy traces as well—'forest floor' and leaf litter. A profound and already quite complex shiraz with full body, richness and drive, the finish reverberating on for some minutes. A trace of licorice. The tannins are very abundant and so soft that the wine drinks well already. A ripping shiraz with a big future. Points: 96/100
