Yangarra High Sands Grenache 2023

This is Yangarra’s pinnacle red – a single block Grenache from the 1946 old vines, fermented in ceramic egg and tank, with maturation also in older Austrian oak. I tasted this over about three days, and it probably peaked at night two, which is unusual for Australian Grenache that can lose aromatic vitality pretty quickly. What sets this wine apart is the joy. Lovely bright, red redcurrant fruit with an almost Gamay-like juiciness. For all the ripe fruit, there’s also tomato juice and rhubarb, a little herbal twist in all that redness. Perfect moderation – it just glides through, with fine-grained sandpaper tannins to punctuate the fruit. Not a big wine, but a perfectly formed one. Such concentration and beauty for a 13.5% Grenache! It’s a joy to drink and a wine to admire from every angle. Points: 96/100

ozwinereview.com ∙ 10th Jul 2025

100% Grenache sourced from Black 31 at 210 elevation – the highest section of the 1946 planted bush vine Grenache, which also has the deepest sandy soils. Here we have the pinnacle Grenache release from Yangarra. It’s perhaps a comparatively diaphanous release in the context of High Sands, though not to a fault. This is a classy wine of dimension, depth and endless character that will reward mightily with time in cellar. The depth to the aromas is instantly compelling while also wonderfully restrained – warm sand and mulch notes quickly make way for white pepper, cranberry, red cherry and raspberry compote. A swirl of the glass accentuates a fine mineral detail along with floral musk, brown spice and a lurking orange peel tang. This is at once savoury and pretty, demure and charming – such is its sophistication. The palate is intense but furled, sitting high in the mouth with red fruits aplenty while firm, febrile tannins provide anchor. Raspberry, red apple, cherry pit minerality, red rose, cranberry and orange peel are pulled into a corset of those stacked and powdery nebbiolo-like tannins which frame it all up and draw the wine to wonderful, poised length. Yangarra’s trajectory with this grape in this region is stratospheric. That’s not opinion—it’s fact. Points: 97/100

Wine Pilot ∙ 28th Jun 2025

Deep and bright purple-red colour, bright and youthful. Dry earth, brick dust and blackberry conserve aromas, the palate medium-full bodied and intense, the concentrated fruit backed up by assertive and refined tannins that provide great structure and the finish rolls on and on, in harmony. A statuesque grenache of real presence and huge future potential. Points: 97/100

The Real Review ∙ 25th May 2025

There’s tension to this wine, red and blue berried fruits, spice notes, chalk, a general lightness, a general insistence. The floral characters have that slightly – attractive – decayed aspect, brightened as they are by notes of musk-sticks-dipped-quickly-into the pool of red cherry. There’s a general high drinkability to this wine, especially when you first open it, but as it breathes it tightens, impressively. Given that this wine sits on the lighter or more elegant side of the ledger this comment might sound strange, but: there’s an impression of saturation to this wine, as in, the red berried fruit flavours feel saturated in flowers, sweet spices and sweet woods. It’s a very beautiful wine. Points: 95/100

The Wine Front ∙ 15th May 2025

This year, Pete Fraser will launch the High Sands, Ovitelli and Hickinbotham together, giving a better chance to view the connectivity. Well, there is certainly a theme in the '23s. A degree of alcohol less, lower colour and a commanding, yet incredibly fine, structural framework. This is a very different High Sands, a reflection of the cool year, but also an evolving direction, leaning into elegance, soaring fragrance and savoury tension. Red cherry, tart raspberry, intensely floral, swirling with North African spices, musk and orange peel. The palate is coiled at this stage, but the fruit has flex and will bloom with time in bottle, radiating out from the core of mineral-feeling tannin and skein of vigorous acidity. This is truly magnificent now, but the future is one of dazzling possibility. Points: 98/100

Halliday Wine Companion ∙ 9th May 2025

The 2023 Grenache High Sands is a more restrained edition that delivers refined and crystalline aromas of raspberry and watermelon dusted with star anise. It starts a little slowly but then builds savory, stony minerality with chewy textures yet still with a fine, ethereal core of flavor delivered over an extended finish. The 2023 is a sleeper that will be best over the medium term. Points: 94/100

Vinous ∙ 23rd Apr 2025