Black fruit, nori, black olives, spice and some floral notes. It’s medium to full-bodied, saline and savoury, but carries a plenty of black and blue fruit. The tannin is firm and dry, plenty of almost dusty grip here, and the finish is long (and dry) and laced with black olive and exotic spice. You have to like them pretty saline, that’s the caveat, though I’m very sensitive to that character in wine, but it’s a good and distinctive Shiraz. No doubt. Points: 93/100
From a 2.3ha Maslin Sands block, 20% whole bunches, 30% whole berries, 50% crushed; wild fermented and matured for 16 months in new and used 25hL French foudres. A wine of remarkable intensity. Purity and balance underwrite a future measured in decades. Points: 97/100
And this Shiraz just feels right and good. Great colour – a lovely purple-red. It smells alive too – some of that McLaren Vale tilled earth, a wave of purple fruit, oak, a distant background coffee element but there. Same again on the palate, all purple berries and coffee and a grainy but flowing finish. Nailed it. There is such a wonderful open-hearted volume to this. It feels generous and welcoming, yet so well poised and right. Points: 95/100
An attractive and inky purple; floral aromatics of plum and black cherry with vanillin cream and spice. The palate is velvet, there is a moreishness of spice and acidity with layers of plush cherry and plum, lashings of milk chocolate and such clarity and drive of fruit. Faint earth and spice to finish. An incredibly good Shiraz. Points: 97/100
I like this... A lot. There's a sweetness of blue fruit that hooks you in before an array of spices seduces and sends you into a frenzy. If you were to ever taste boysenberry in a wine, this is the one. On opening it rushes at you. A day on it calms considerably and the savoury profile rumbles along to dominate. Loaded with an array of licorice bullets, cloves, coffee grounds, cherry cola, earthiness and plums, it's silky smooth with a concentrated mid-palate that has some oomph and offers you plenty to ponder. Supremely delicious, it is a wine that is damn easy to drink. Points: 94/100
Lusty, slurpy red with beefiness and sweet-sour tendencies in the nicest sense. Stains the palate thick with rich, red fruitiness, some cola and light coffee elements, touches of toast and clove. Scents like all that, big wall of it, effective in delivery of McLaren Vale shirazisms. It’s a lovely red, relishes its warm-hearted appeal, delivers concentration and many layers. It feels fine tuned too, in the sense that there’s some decent tannin licks and woody spice to show edges. Nice. Points: 94/100
There is a lighter touch to this than in past vintages, although it's still a dense, compact and richly flavoured wine. A stellar vintage and a long, gentle extraction (133 days) on skins in a 675L ceramic egg helped. Pointed northern Rhône-like aromas of blueberry, violet, white pepper, dried nori, black olive and clove. An undercarriage of briar and hedgerow imparts a welcome savouriness. The sinewy tannic mettle suggests this will age well and grow with stature in time. Points: 94/100
Dark, inky and really opaque and youthful in the glass. Evocative aromas of mulberry, rhubarb, satsuma plum, licorice, char and spice. Rich, mouth-filling and plush on the palate, oodles of dark fruits, spice and creamy oak. A powerful wine with very supportive tannins and acidity ensuring texture, mouth-feel and brightness. Points: 95/100
