Parker Extraordinary – Closing 18th November

The 2017 Vintage Port, not quite bottled when originally seen, has now been in bottle for a couple of years. It is a field blend (with typical grapes like Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca) aged for approximately 20 months in used French oak. It comes in with 98 grams of residual sugar. This is a great Fonseca, distinctive, with a touch of eucalyptus and plums, but also loaded with delicious fruit. Like its Taylor's siblings, there is also a fine backbone. I'd say it is a step behind the Taylor's duo this year, but not by much. It will age well, to say the least.

Now with a couple years in bottle, I am erring to the Taylor’s over the Fonseca (although these can always change!) The Taylor’s show more delineation and refinement with pure black currant, cassis, pencil box, hints of marzipan and a hint of dark chocolate. The palate is full-bodied and sumptuous with super-fine tannins, very pure blackberry and boysenberry notes interlaced with cedar, dried fig and a touch of black pepper on the beautifully refined finish. Excellent.

The 2022 Adrianna Vineyard Malbec Fortuna Terrae is pure, floral, herbal and elegant on the nose, followed by a svelte, soft and richly textured palate enlivened with an increasingly electric core of acidity. It concludes with a solid, vibrant finish framed by refined, discreet tannins, gradually gaining length and dimension with time in the glass. This is a fantastic cornerstone of the upper echelon of Catena Zapata Malbecs and a lovely midpoint between the more lifted and ethereal River and the more sumptuous Mundus Bacillus Terrae bottlings.

The 2019 was a hard act to follow, but the 2020 Adrianna Vineyard River kept its poise, though it showed a little riper and with grainier tannins that gave it some faint rusticity and earthiness. This is one of three Malbecs from the Adrianna Vineyard in Gualtallary, from a stony part of the vineyard, hence its name. The wine matured in large oak foudres, and the oak is still perceptible and might need a little more time to get integrated. This tends to be the most austere of the three bottlings, even in the warmer years like 2020, and it shows a little more fruit. It's juicy but beautifully textured with a spicy twist of curry that reminded me of some bottlings from El Enemigo in El Cepillo. It seems to open up slowly in the glass—the violet and berry aromas get complicated by some spice (curry?)—and the palate feels more layered. This is a superb expression of the austere wildness of Gualtallary. 5,700 bottles were filled in December 2021.

Perennially one of Argentina's most aromatically distinctive wines, the 2022 Adrianna Vineyard Chardonnay White Bones opens with its signature extroverted profile of resinous herbs, ginger and dried white flower aromas with an exotic touch of curry leaf from its biological élevage. The palate is broad, textural and weightlessly rich, exuding more body and understated power than its dramatically incisive White Stone counterpart. It culminates in a slow-moving, swelling finish that gradually gains dimension, energy and verticality with further aeration. This is a singular and definitive reference point for Argentine Chardonnay

The 2023 Adrianna Vineyard Chardonnay White Bones leads with its quintessentially lifted, vibrant bouquet of citrus rinds, dried spices, white flowers and fresh herbs, continuously developing additional complexity from its biological aging under flor. The palate combines live-wire focus with ethereal richness and a gently creamy core that runs through its mouthwatering and mineral-drenched finish. A fantastic iteration of the exotic, precise profile readers have come to expect from this pioneering Gualtallary Chardonnay reference point.

The vintage released in 2025 is the 2021 Alión, a year to remember, one of the best in recent times. 2021 was relaxed and textbook in all senses, with snow in the beginning of the year, a mild spring disturbed only by frost in Pesquera that didn't affect other villages and a relatively cool summer that slowed things down, and the grapes ripened to perfection without rain after September. They used grapes from 13 different villages throughout the Ribera del Duero, from a total of 130 hectares. The grapes were cooled down for 24 hours, and once destemmed, they were put in the oak and stainless steel vats, where they underwent a five-day cold soak and then native fermentation through a "pied de cuve." The wine has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.81 and 4.8 grams of acidity (tartaric). It's very fresh and fruit-driven, with the balance and elegance of the cooler year, and it's a little austere, with very elegant and polished tannins and a different quality, when the grapes ripen slowly. They believe 2024 has the potential to be like 2021, after the 2022 and 2023 vintages were a lot more challenging. This is a large production of 244,244 bottles, 7,075 magnums and some larger formats. It was bottled in June 2023.

The 2014s, where the production of Napanook was only 2,200 cases and Dominus slightly more than the 2015 at 4,000 cases, was another early harvest, although somewhat later than 2015. The 2014 Dominus, which is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot really struts its stuff. Moueix’s belief in dry farming seems to be paying off with stronger and stronger vintages, each successive year, and the 2014 is a sexy, opulent, layered, multidimensional wine with notes of red and blackcurrant, cedar wood, tobacco leaf , spice box and licorice. The color is a dense plum/ruby/purple, much like the Napanook. This is a beauty that is already drinking gorgeously – as most 2014s are – and will continue to evolve for 25 or so years.

A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot and 8% Cabernet Franc aged in 40% new oak, the 2016 Proprietary Red Wine is deep purple-black in color and quite reticent at this youthful stage to begin, offering up subtle notions of potpourri, Indian spices, cigar box and iron ore over a core of crushed blackberries and black cherries with intermittent wafts of black and red currants, new leather and smoked meats. The palate is medium to full-bodied with a densely packed mid-palate and oodles of freshness framed by very ripe, finely grained tannins and laced with compelling earthy accents. It offers incredible vibrancy with tons of black and red fruit sparkle in the mid-palate leading to a provocative mineral element on the very long finish. If I could give more than 100 for this one, I would. To be released in May 2019.

Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Dominus slowly emerges from the glass with profound notes of blackcurrant cordial, ripe black plums, boysenberries and Black Forest cake with hints of violets, star anise, cracked black pepper, raspberry leaves and pencil lead, plus a touch of garrigue. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers impactful black fruit layers, creating a beguiling sense of richness that is beautifully countered by invigorating freshness and great poise, framed by super ripe, plush tannins and beautiful tension, finishing on a lingering fragrant earth note and, finally, lots of mineral sparks. For all that it is at the moment, one cannot help but feel that this 2018 is holding something back. Give it a good five years in bottle, at least, and then get set for what I suspect will be a mind-blowing transformation over the next 30 years+.

The 2021 Dominus is a 3,700-case blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, with 40% of the wine matured in new French oak. Black cherries and cassis lead the way, accented by scents of crushed stone and pencil shavings. It's full-bodied, rich and concentrated, dark and intense, with ample tannins, but those tannins are ripe and well-rounded without being overly soft or creamy, gliding easily into a long, mocha-tinged finish. As a whole, the wine exhibits wonderful balance, even if it will benefit from 5 or 10 years in the cellar.

Deep purple-black in color, the nose of the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon slowly unfurls to reveal a gorgeous perfume of violets and roses over a core of kirsch, boysenberries and cassis, plus hints of redcurrant jelly and menthol, emerging into wafts of pencil lead and truffles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is built like a brick house, featuring very firm, wonderfully ripe, grainy tannins and bold freshness to support the vivacious, tightly wound black and red fruit layers, finishing long and mineral laced. It's a stunning, evocative, singular wine that so beautifully captures the long, slow-maturing grace of the 2019 vintage.

All Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon starts off with vaguely floral and pronounced leafy notes backed by ripe black cherries and hints of dusty earth. In the mouth, it's medium to full-bodied, expansive and silky in texture, with a long, softly tannic and mocha-tinged finish. It should evolve well for at least two decades.

Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder was aged in French oak barrels for 22 months, 94% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it soars out of the glass with vivacious scents of black cherries, black raspberries and black currant pastilles, followed by nuances of pencil shavings, tilled earth, lilacs and underbrush plus a waft of crushed rocks. The full-bodied palate is taut, packed with muscular, impactful black fruits, featuring a rock-solid backbone of firm, grainy tannins, finishing with a whole firework display of earthy/minerally sparks. Give it a good 4-5 years in bottle and drink it for the next 25+ years. 1,327 cases were made.

Spottswoode's 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon offers up hints of barrel char and a slightly roasted character, but the fruit itself—cassis and black cherries—is cool, even minty. This vintage is medium to full-bodied, not overly ripe or textural, with an excellent balance of firmness and freshness on the long, grippy finish. Tight and in need of some cellaring, it should evolve nicely for a couple of decades.

Incorporating fully 10% still red wine, Billecart's 2009 Brut Rosé Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon is showing beautifully, delivering fragrant aromas of plums, stone fruits, petals, sweet spices and marzipan. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and elegant, it's seamless and pillowy, with bright acids and a pure, precise profile, concluding with a bright, saline finish. In 2009, it was vinified entirely in stainless steel.

Billecart-Salmon’s 2012 Nicolas François marks the first release since 2008 and stands as another success. The fundamentals remain unchanged: settling and fermentation at low temperatures, a small proportion vinified in oak barrels and partial malolactic fermentation (20% was blocked in 2012). This vintage was characterized by a prolonged flowering period, significant rainfall and mildew pressure, resulting in a small crop. The harvest of fruit, which contributed to this cuvée, took place between September 17 and 22. "It was crucial to select only the ripest fruit, as maturation varied significantly between plots," explains Billecart’s head winemaker, Florent Nys. But what of the wine itself? Disgorged in May 2023 with a dosage of 3.8 grams per liter, it exudes aromas of candied lemon, honeysuckle and ripe peach, mingling with nuances of beeswax and orange zest. On the palate, it is full-bodied, ample and enveloping, boasting a layered, concentrated core, a chalky structure and mouthwatering acidity, despite the warm vintage. It concludes with a persistent, saline finish, hinting at the savory complexity that has emerged with such notable bottle age. Compared to the 2008, which remains tightly coiled, the 2012 is broader-shouldered and more demonstrative.

The finest rendition since 2013, the 2016 Cristal has turned out beautifully. A vintage that Lecaillon describes as “difficult in the vineyards but beautiful in the cellar,” it had suffered slightly in reputation due to the gloomy mood during the challenging growing season, but the results are indeed impressive. The fifth edition produced entirely from organically farmed and certified fruit, and heavily based on Pinot Noir, the 2016 represents the contemporary quality of Cristal, combining the concentration of 2002 with the precision and cut of 2013. Disgorged in July 2024 with a dosage of seven grams per liter, it opens in the glass to reveal a bouquet of lemon zest, white flowers and peeled almond, framed by youthful reduction. On the palate, it is bright and electric, with a pure core of fruit, pinpoint mousse and a textural attack, concluding with a long, saline finish. Drink it alongside the 2015, and it will illuminate its clarity and integration.

Roederer's 2014 Cristal Rosé has turned out beautifully, unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet cherries, almonds, citrus fruit and red berries mingled with notions of white flowers and wet chalk. Full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a layered core of fruit and a pillowy mousse, it's deep, racy and electric, concluding with a long, mineral finish. Comparatively open out of the gates, it's no slight to the 2014's seriousness to say that it will drink well while its 2013 counterpart sleeps in the cellar. Deriving from just a handful of the over 39 blocks that inform the regular Cristal 2014, I suspect that its origins have even more to do with the extra dimension it possesses above and beyond its white counterpart than the subtle infusion of Pinot Noir phenolics that give it its delicate pink hue.

Occupying a stylistic middle ground between the incisiveness of the 2013 and the fleshier textures of the 2012, Taittinger’s 2014 Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne—disgorged in July 2024 with a dosage of nine grams per liter—has turned out beautifully. It offers aromas of orange peel, peach, pear and brioche mingled with hazelnut and burnt buttered toast. On the palate, it is full-bodied, ample and textural, with a layered yet crisp core of fruit, considerable tension and a long, chalky finish. Harmonious and racy-fresh though it is, this is a marginally richer rendition than the 2013 tasted alongside it, yet both promise excellent longevity and will make for fascinating comparative tastings in the years to come.

Here, the start of a very diverse but magnificent trip of vintages begins. 2021 was not only an excellent season in terms of benevolent weather at all the right times, healthy flowering, yields, growing season conditions and harvest, but also a reprieve from the three years preceding it that were defined by warmth, dryness and low yields. 2022 was the slightly cooler, slightly wetter pigeon pair to 2021, and it produced wines of eminent silkiness and approachability, which was followed by 2023. It was cool and wet and perhaps challenging for some, but from a wine-quality perspective on this observational side of the fence, it was superb. So here, the 2021 Grenache is everything we expect from the season: balanced, placid, powerfully structured, supple and long through the finish. It is a baby, and while many bottles of this great vintage will have already been enjoyed, it is undoubtedly one of the pedigree vintages that will continue to improve over the coming decades. This is the lowest labeled alcohol reading of any Bekkers Grenache produced yet, at 14% alcohol. Sealed under screw cap.

The 2014 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is a succulent, supple and middle weight, elegantly styled wine. It has red fruit and minerality in abundance: raspberry leaf tea, aniseed, cocoa, pomegranate, raspberry and redcurrants. This is a beautiful wine, one of the great Graveyards. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

This 2019 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is black and a little reductive on the nose but layered with blackcurrant pastille, cassis, raspberry, blueberry and graphite. The palate is largely black in character as well, with all manner of exotic spice wrought by finely held texture. It has sweet paprika tannins, with sumac, pink peppercorn and wet asphalt. This is a super wine. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2023 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is a product of the beautiful year that birthed it. It is ripe and silky and seamless already. All the components fit together without edges. Perfectly resolved tannins are bedded in a garden of rose petals, graphite, petrichor, raspberry pip, curls of blood orange rind, tobacco and even a hint of something earthy... mossy. It's great. Truly one of the greats, alongside the 2018, in the context of this tasting. This is a ripper wine; it's inchoate but blue chip. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2018 vintage of the Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is the best vintage of this wine made to that date. This 2023 may in time see this as being the best Graveyard ever made. For those lucky enough to have both vintages in the cellar, it's all the same to us—these are great wines with long futures ahead of them.

The 2024 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is silky and fine, both bloody and floral. The wine is lighter than some of its predecessors, both in color and in palate weight. The length, however, is delicately lingering and long, allowing ample opportunity for assessment and re-assessment. It has concentration without heft, and despite being labelled as Shiraz, the best of the Hunter offer something unique in Australian wine, and indeed globally: finesse, florality, weightlessness and intensity. This is in that vein. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2019 ILR Reserve Semillon is today tasted as a finished wine (the previous note for this refers to a sample tasted at the winery, which was finished but not labeled), and it aromatically leads with seashells, cut grass, paraffin and scratched lemon zest. In the mouth, the wine is toasty and attractively wide, with loads of flavor that builds through the finish. This is a wine that needs a second mouthful in order to make sense of the first, and once begun, it's a beauty. This is very good indeed. 11.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2024 Intrigue Pinot Noir is a blend of eight clones from the Isle vineyard, and the wine is picked and handled as individual parcels, then blended for the final wine. In the glass, the wine is reductive and exotic, with licorice, curry leaf, clove, sage and bay leaf as well. The wine is silky and pliable, and the length through the finish is impressive. This is a complex, layered wine, imbued with and shaped by fine tannins that linger through the long finish. While winemaker Jim Chatto describes this wine as a "show off," I would counter that by saying the wine is svelte and polished, although it has flashy attributes. It's an excellent wine. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

One of Australia’s most prodigious Syrahs, Clarendon Hills’ 2004 Syrah Astralis is fashioned from vines planted in 1920, and spends time in 100% new French oak from the cooper, Cadus. It boasts off the charts intensity as well as an opaque purple color, and notes of spring flowers, blueberries, blackberries, roasted coffee beans, pepper, smoke, and a hint of sweet toasty oak. This full-bodied, rich, intense, backward Syrah needs 2-3+ hours in the decanter if one is going to approach it at this point in its life. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2040+.

The inky, tannic 2016 Astralis Syrah will no doubt need some time before it reaches its apogee. Right now, it only hints at that potential. Appetizing scents of roasted meat and cinnamon toast meet red raspberries and black cherries on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is densely concentrated and richly textured but closed, locked up by firm, dusty tannins that bar the lengthy finish from expanding and being truly expressive. I'm tempted to say buyers should check in on the wine in five years, but that may not be enough time. If you absolutely must check it out now, taste it repeatedly over the course of a full evening to catch glimpses of espresso, black olives and delicate herbal nuances.

The 2017 Astralis Syrah is a very fine wine. It is not a big wine. Perhaps its reputation for being a big, extracted wine is a misnomer these days. It has intention and drive and clarity and length—and the length of flavor is so long that it allows reassessment over and over again. It has cassis and blackberry, raspberry pip and salted licorice. It is perfumed and balanced, and it takes time to develop. Unctuous. Satisfying. Supple. Attractive. Beautiful. Eminently balanced. A beauty.

This 2020 Onkaparinga Grenache is the seductive Grenache in the pack. What a wine. It doesn’t have the fine skeleton of the Blewitt Springs wine, but it is more silken and supple. Incredible. The tannic framework is disguised amid the voluminous (but controlled, harnessed, not opulent) fruit. The odious comparison to Burgundy here is hard to avoid—the Clarendon Hills Grenache wines are built on a framework of fine tannins, and the fruit has a natural appeal and attraction. They're seductive in the extreme. High-altitude Blewitt Springs.

The 2020 Romas Grenache is resplendent with fresh oregano, red apple skins and Sichuan peppercorn. This has intensity and line and concentration and is mouthfilling and supple. It's a kaleidoscopic, powerful, restrained wine. It has coiled power and presence, crushed rocks, Chinese five spice and brine. The tannins are omnipresent, silty, flooding the palate. Seductive. It's impossible to overstate the pleasure here. A wine of structure and density with lightness and life, too. We’re discussing the lifetime of these wines, and the 15-year mark is where Alex and Roman agree that the time for primary fruit recedes and it morphs into its older self. So, given that I enjoy primary fruit in all wine, this is where I set the window—of course, they will live beyond this. Magic.

Medium to deep garnet in color, the 2008 Shiraz Viognier presents very youthful blackcurrant and black plums aromas accented by cloves, tree bark, some sage and a whiff of bacon. Medium to full-bodied, this more structured style has medium-firm, grainy tannins, vibrant acid and a long, concentrated finish. Drink it now to 2024+.

I recently had the pleasure to taste through verticals of Clonakilla’s flagship Murrumbateman Syrah and Shiraz-Viognier labels with owner Tim Kirk. Named after his great-grandfather’s land in County Clair, Ireland, Clonakilla was established in Murrumbateman in the Canberra District by John Kirk (Tim’s father) in 1971. Tim’s father sent Tim from boarding school to his grandfather’s farm each summer. A standing stone in the paddock has a Celtic Cross on it – the one featured on the Clonakilla label. Tim went on to study theology and rather amazingly learned ancient Greek so he could learn to read the original Old Testament. He exudes an extraordinary combination of intellectualism and spirituality, attributes so clearly reflected in the wines of Clonakilla. “Shiraz is the grape variety that gives us the window into what our land wants to say,” Tim told me during our tasting of these labels. 1991 was the first vintage of the Shiraz-Viognier to include a small proportion of Viognier, coming from their 1986 plantings of Viognier. In 1993 they began to use 1/3 whole bunches in the fermentation and increased to post-ferment maceration time to forge a more structured and age-worthy style. Produced since 2006, the “Murrumbateman Syrah” is a very special and rare label from Clonakilla. The fruit for this label always comes from one small section of the “T & L Vineyard” at the top half of the hill – the warmest site on the estate. The fruit is harvested, de-stemmed and receives no additions (tannins, acid, yeast, etc.). After a natural fermentation, Kirk just leaves the wine for a month prior to racking and barrel maturation. Clonakilla did not produce the Murrumbateman Syrah in 2007 or 2011.

On the nose, the 2009 Shiraz Viognier stands out from the lineup (2006, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021). It has the most authentic roast beef crust smell outside of actual roast beef crust that I want to eat it. In the mouth, the fruit is bright and pure in its distinctly savory way, and the clarity of tannic structure is a thing to behold. This is totally in line with Clonakilla's clear house style. 2009 was a very good year in Canberra—posited as one of the best red vintages ever. It's up to you what you think of that statement, but the wine is certainly distinct, and at 13 years old today, it is youthful as anything. A warm summer gave many days in the high thirties, but the continentality of the Murrumbateman area held the vines in good stead as cool nighttimes allowed the vines crucial rest periods to preserve natural acidity. This 2009 was made with a 5% Viognier inclusion and 22% whole bunches. This is still evolving, still primary, and in Tim Kirk's descriptive prose: "a warm-hearted, black diamond of a wine." Apt.

The 2021 Diana Madeline is a fascinating wine, one that feels as if it is evolving before my very eyes. Particularly the tannins, which at this stage possess a capaciousness—they force the walls of fruit outward in the mouth. It's good. At this stage, the tannins feel grippy like Barolo, substantial in this way, and I find this informs the flavors in an all too Italianate direction. A lovely thing. There are roses, petrichor, dried herbs, asphalt, nori, fennel seeds and iodine. 2021 was not an easy Cabernet vintage in Margaret River, nor was it consistently good across the region, yet this is not just a good effort in the season that was but a remarkable wine in and of itself. Kudos. The blend is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2022 Diana Madeline is a succulent, powerful, muscular iteration of this vineyard, in what was a warm and excellent season in Margaret River. Raspberry, cocoa nib, iodine, licorice/aniseed, kelp and a burst of fresh ocean air. This is a spectacular wine; it straddles the divide of warm season/ripe fruit yet retains some characteristics of cooler season/nuanced spice. The blend is 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec that matured for 14 months in 55% new French oak. 13.3% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2025 Kevin John Chardonnay leads with white pineapple and star anise, green apple and white peach. It is gently reductive and tightly coiled, its youth on show as usual at this time of its release cycle. It will be released in May 2026. In the mouth, the wine is typically spicy and concentrated and extraordinarily long through the finish. Despite the saturating concentration of flavor in the mouth, this vintage carries a levity or singularity that is most attractive. This is a quieter vintage, perhaps, and one that will evolve beautifully in time. 13.6% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

According to the technical booklet provided during the tasting, the 2025 vintage at Cullen began early after a warm, dry season and an unusual May heat spike that caused a rare double bud burst in Chardonnay, naturally reducing yields and concentrating flavor. Early bird pressure eased quickly, allowing the tiny crop to ripen with purity. Fruit was hand-harvested across two weeks from old, dry-grown vines. The grapes were hand sorted and destemmed. Certain batches of fruit spent two days in amphora while others were whole-bunch basket pressed into 50% new puncheons. It underwent daily to weekly bâtonnage during the ferment and then was left thereafter. After a wild fermentation and 100% malolactic, the wine spent a further seven months in 50% new puncheons. It was bottled without any filtration.

The 2016 Vanya Cabernet Sauvignon spent 12 weeks on skins in amphora and was matured for six months in French oak (75% new). The texture in the mouth is so fine and so chalky; it is surely driven by the time spent on skins in amphora, and it sits so well with the character of the vineyard. It lends the wine a character of ozone, or fennel seed, mint or aniseed, or perhaps a mix of all. Regardless, it's a magnificent wine, so svelte. It redefines the Cabernet texture/tannin parameters that we have had up until now. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2002 Command Shiraz has shades of the 1992 tasted in this vertical; it is silky, fresh, fine and long, with eminent balance and finesse on the palate. I love how this wine is shaped and performs, and it shows real elegance among the obvious horsepower of the fruit. It's very, very impressive. The closure helps, as the wine was sealed under screw cap. 14.5% alcohol.

According to Elderton and the Barossa Valley Grape and Wine Association, 2002 was a textbook vintage that avoided the highs and lows of temperature and rainfall extremes. A very cool, moist 2001 growing season assured good budburst and a long Indian summer of moderate daytime temperatures and cool nights led to gradual, even ripening. A warmer than average autumn led to optimal color and flavor intensity—a great finish. It was an excellent year for Barossa Valley Shiraz, Cabernet and Grenache.

The 2023 Smith Cullam Syrah is a bloody, seamless, grainy, effortless feeling Shiraz wine from Frankland River. The tannins are sensational: chewy and yet ultra fine, all crushed rocks, gravel, ironstone and ferrous notes. This has flowers and exotic spice in profusion and is a masterclass is sophistication. Very young right now, this is already irresistibly fine and succulent. It is saturated in flavor yet contained and lean. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2022 Palladian Cabernet Sauvignon is silky, fine and ferrous, with bay leaf, tapenade, raspberry and pomegranate. This is one of Australia's finest Cabernets, year in year out, showing sophistication, finesse and delicacy alongside transparency of place. This is highly recommended. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

Having tasted five bottles of this remarkable wine over the past year (most of them mine), I can confirm that it is evolving and changing with time in the bottle, but each time I taste it, I am amazed by its ability to highlight parts of the wine I may not have focused on the last time I tasted it. Twice this week, the 2021 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay has spoken first of its reduction and flint: it is bony and austere and taut, and I mean this in the best of ways. It speaks of its architecture currently, over its fruit. Yet it is propelled by the fruit. Giaconda manages focus and precision alongside its famous reduction, and this is what separates it from other producers in the country. It may be easy to can the reduction if it's not your preferred quality in Chardonnay, but the fruit and phenolic focus of the wine is untouchable. This is inimitable. I'm running out of bottles to taste, but I've loved every single one so far.

The 2022 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay follows hot on the heels of the perfect 2021 release, and in doing so, it has big boots to fill. Aromatically, the wine leads, as all Giaconda Chardonnay's do, with white flowers and notions of campfire and charred gum leaves, cracked white peppercorns and white peach, salt and caper brine. Crushed and salted nuts, enoki mushroom, shaved fennel, torched pink grapefruit ... the cavalcade of flavors march on across the palate. In this season, the wine is altogether more quietly nuanced and placid than the sleek, powerfully focused 2021 vintage. However, in so saying, this wine is balanced and fine, somewhat less overtly reductive (although still imbued with that salivating characteristic), populated by softer-spoken fruit and yet no less sapid or palate staining. It is in the mouth that the pedigree of the wine comes to the fore. The chalky texture and the penetrating intensity of flavor in combination are what make this wine so great, as I see it, and the 2022 vintage provides a gentle framework within which the wine exists. This is a gorgeous, elegant, precise and detailed release of this magnificent wine. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2023 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay leads with an abundance of smoky, nutty, savory reduction. Here, the 2023 feels less exotic and softly spoken than the 2022 tasted alongside, with the 2023 showing more tension and focus. Neither has the extraordinary, otherworldly character of the 2021, also tasted alongside, yet the differences between the three is almost as exciting as having three vintages of Giaconda Chardonnay open at the same time. The 2023 only gets better the longer it is opened, revealing white peach, curry leaf, pink grapefruit acidity, blood orange, coffee grounds, graphite and mustard seeds. What a wine. The sheer intensity of flavor here is astonishing—it penetrates the palate and soars long into the memory. Far from pinching the finish, the reduction provokes a physical response, one that requires more drinking to satiate. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

I recently tasted this wine blind in Burgundy (2022 vintage), and while the wine was immediately recognizable to me, it really showed the specific personality of reduction at this estate, as compared to the others tasted that evening. The comparison was fascinating, in that Giaconda was revealed to be very savory, backed by voluminous, exotic fruit, while the other wines showed more verdancy to their fruit profiles, which in turn influenced the reduction. Fascinating and valuable.

I also tasted this wine as its component parts when I visited the estate in January 2024, and seeing each of the barrels as individuals and then now witnessing the holistic conglomeration of them is very cool. The wine makes more sense to me, and it's infinitely more kaleidoscopic.

Fifty percent Mendoza, some Gingin and a bunch of Bernard clones (76, 277 and 96) populate this 30-hectare vineyard. Within it are a variety of aspects and elevations; the block that provides the source for this wine is Block 11 (Bernard clones), and the on the north-facing side of the vineyard is the Mendoza/96 component. There are deeper soils and bigger canopies over this way, and this provides the generosity and texture for this cuvée. The 2022 Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay offers notes of toasted almond meal, stone fruit, brine and citrus peel, with a deeper undercurrent of sandalwood and exotic spice. There are also notes of cut fennel, some ginger and loads of salted nuts. This is a lovely wine. It is big and powerful. This has plenty of phenolics to shape the wine through the finish and linger after the wine has gone. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2022 Amon-Ra Shiraz speaks so clearly of the Glaetzer house style: that is to say, sleek, polished, powerful, seamless and fruit-driven. These are wines that speak of the Barossa in their earthy splay of pliable tannin, but they have a vibrance to the fruit that is most attractive. So, while these wines harness the place—this wine could hardly be from anywhere else—they do it in a restrained kind of way. Not that you could call this 2022 Amon-Ra Shiraz "restrained" and get away with it. More to comment on the fact that Barossa is yoked and controlled in this wine. I like it a lot. There are notes of dark chocolate, black cherries, raspberry pastille and even pomegranate molasses, alongside sweet paprika, ironstone and red earth, roasted meat and a throw of tapenade. This is really good. 15% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

I love what Glaetzer's inclusion of Cabernet brings to the 2017 Anaperenna Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon, giving it additional fragrance and length. Lifted aromas of mint, raspberries and dark chocolate mark the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich and velvety but never heavy, framed by supple tannins that turn silky on the long, long finish. Showing great focus, energy and intensity, expect it to still be going strong in a decade.

Medium garnet in color, the 2010 Shiraz Meshach reveals notes of black cherry compote, dried plums, mulberries and spice cake with hints of smoky bacon, cloves and Szechuan pepper. Medium-bodied, the palate is slowly evolving in typical Meshach fashion into an elegant expression of classic Barossa Shiraz with plenty of exotic spices to match the intense fruit swaddled by velvety tannins and a finish of great length.

Medium brick in color, the 1990 Hill of Grace has a very pretty core of cherry cordial, violets, dried roses, cinnamon stick, anise and a whiff of pepper. Medium-bodied, it has great generosity in the mouth balanced by a nice acid line and a medium level of velvety tannins through the long finish. This one still has loads of life and should easily drink through 2025+.

Deep brown-brick in color, the 1991 Hill of Grace offers intensely scented notes of warm black fruits, Chinese dried plums, dark chocolate-covered cherries and licorice. It is very pure, full-bodied and rich in the mouth, with profound and seductive flavors, a great backbone of crisp acid and firm, finely-grained tannins through the long finish. It is mature now but no rush to drink.

Deep brick-colored, the 1994 Hill of Grace offers notes of stewed plums, dried berries and baking spices with nuances of aniseed, vanilla and potpourri. Medium to full-bodied, it has great concentration and structure in the mouth, with crisp acid plus firm, grainy tannins, and is packed with layered, dried berry and spice flavors before finishing long with tons of remaining fruit. This wine still has many years to go. Drink it now to 2030+.

Deep garnet in color, the 2002 Hill of Grace has an entrancing nose with profound aromas of warm black cherries, crushed blackberries and mulberries plus a touch of wild blueberries and hints of allspice, violets and toast. It is full-bodied, rich and seductive in the mouth, and yet it has lovely poise with a crisp acid line and a medium to firm level of fine-grained tannins plus great length. Delicious now, it will reward the patient and should drink to 2040+.

The 2008 Hill of Grace Shiraz is just looking so svelte and fine. The wine is elegant and spicy and super fine, and it leads with fresh leather and star anise, bay leaf, tobacco, curry leaf, cocoa and peppercorns that all twist and swirl through the bouquet. In the mouth, the tannins have evolved to a state of pure repose—seamless and fine, they flow and carry the Satsuma plum fruit along with it. This 2008 makes a very strong case for cellaring your wine for some time prior to drinking it. If you have the means, I would recommend buying some of this vintage (maybe solo, maybe with friends) and drinking a bottle. Experience the evolution of tannin and fruit. It's a wonder. It's a lovely wine, re-released into the wild. Lucky us. This has decades to go. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under Vinolok.

2008 experienced a heat wave in the fall (March 3-15), but thankfully most of the fruit for this wine was off by the time the heat became a problem.

Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the nose on the 2009 Hill of Grace is a little closed, though it reveals notes of warm black plums, blackberry coulis and cloves with subtle nuances of dried Provence herbs, forest floor and lavender. Medium to full-bodied, it possesses layers of medium to full-bodied black fruit and earth-laced flesh elegantly structured by a medium to firm level of finely grained tannins, nicely balanced acid and a long finish. Drink it now to 2026+.

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2012 Hill of Grace Shiraz is a little reticent on the nose to begin, opening out to a somewhat paradoxically tantalizing Black Forest cake, beef dripping, fertile loam and tree bark nose with hints of black pepper, Marmite, bay leaves, eucalyptus, licorice and baker’s chocolate. The medium to full-bodied palate is a wonderfully intricate mélange of mineral, savory, dark fruits and spice layers, framed by velvety tannins and refreshing acidity, finishing epically. This is a truly great Hill of Grace that has just entered the first stage of its drinking window and should continue to develop beautifully over the next 25+ years.

I briefly thought about just cutting and pasting the review of the 2014 into this space for the 2015 Hill of Grace Shiraz, but on further reflection, there are some differences between them—and isn't that one of the reasons we love wine? Scents of smoked meat and mocha accent notes of black olives and blackberries, joined by subtle notions of resinous herbs, while the full-bodied palate comes across as slightly weightier, richer and more velvety in texture than the 2014. Not as elegant perhaps, but more concentrated and powerful on the long, long finish.

The 2021 Hill of Grace Shiraz comes from a vineyard that sits at 400 meters above sea level—a beautiful, remote-feeling place. The vineyard is picked block by block, defined by vine age, soil types, elevation and position within the vineyard. The older vines within the vineyard tend to hold their acidity and retain lower pH with higher natural acidity than the younger vines, which also assists in determining the parcels. "Ironically, this is the simplest wine to make; it's the vineyard that produces the wine like this. It's due to the work in the vineyard over many generations," says Stephen Henschke. So, to the wine. It is pure and fine, with a languid pool of fruit that is characterized by black silty tannins and persistent, seamless length. This speaks of the ancient place, the rocks, the vines. This is just a magnificent, graceful wine here, one that is "immune to hyperbole," as they say. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. The Wheelwright vineyard has 50-year-old vines, Mount Edelstone is over 100 years old, and the ancestor vines in the Hill of Grace vineyard are aver 150 years old.

The 2022 Hill of Grace Shiraz leads with dark fruit and an abundance of exotic spice to match. The tannins are profuse here, quite distinct from the Hill of Roses tasted alongside. Star anise, cloves, cinnamon (cassia), fennel seeds and Sichuan pepper weave in and out of the blackberry, blueberry, crushed quartz/ferrous undertones. There's a sweet rolling-tobacco character that is highly attractive and lingers through the finish. I love the 2022 vintage. It is fresh and detailed. It may forever live in the shadow of the great 2021 vintage, but not for me—I believe firmly this is a sleeper vintage and will reveal its longevity given time. The allure of it now is not in question, either.

According to Henschke: "Hill of Grace is produced from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe in the mid-1800s. The original vines were planted around 1860 by ancestor Nicolaus Stanitzki, in rich alluvial soil in a shallow fertile valley just northwest of the Henschke family winery. The vineyard comprises red-brown earth grading to deep silty loam and has excellent moisture-holding capacity for these old Shiraz vines. Hill of Grace is a unique, delineated, historic site that lies opposite a beautiful old Lutheran church, which is named after a region in Silesia known as Gnadenberg, translating to 'Hill of Grace.'" This was not produced in 1960, 1974, 2000 and 2011. AUD RRP $1,100.

The 2021 Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shiraz was planted in 1912 and was 16 hectares from own-rooted, pre-phylloxera James Busby vine stock. The first Mount Edelstone wine was produced in 1952, from 40-year-old vines. The success of the Mount Edelstone was the inspiration for the Hill of Grace single-vineyard wine to be produced from the 1958 vintage. The Mount Edelstone vineyard is planted at 400 meters in elevation and has an easterly aspect trellised to the Scott Henry system, capturing the morning sun and avoiding the hot afternoon sun. The wine is velvety and layered with raw cocoa tannins, black pepper, Sichuan pepper, raspberry and blood plum. This has all the concentration and intensity that we know and love of Mount Edelstone; it speaks clearly to Eden Valley as a place, with notes of sage, bay, crushed rocks and a cool minerality that drives it through the long finish. This is a superb wine. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2022 Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shiraz is bright, supple, spicy, savory and sweet. It is complex and shapely, persistent and delicate, with notes of bay leaf, raspberry seed, tapenade, wet moss and brine. This is a beautiful wine, and one of the most lovely Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shirazes I have tasted on release. I love the wines from the 2022 vintage; it may forever live in the shadow of the great 2021 vintage that came before it, but not in my heart. It has a pH of 3.43, 5.8 grams per liter of total acidity and 14.5% alcohol.

According to Henschke: "The winter of 2021 brought good rainfall, refilling soil profiles, and the cool, slow start to the growing season resulted in budburst occurring two weeks later than average. An extreme hail event on October 28 decimated the young-shoot growth across our vineyards in Keyneton, significantly reducing crop potential. Late flowering (late November to early December) avoided the cold and windy conditions, resulting in good fruit set, albeit with smaller yields. A burst of summer heat, without extremes, supported berry development and balanced canopy growth. Welcome rain in late January occurred just before veraison and ripening, leading into a mild and dry finish to summer. The 2022 vintage was late, with harvest dates one to two weeks later than the historical average. The resulting wines have great elegance with excellent aromatic and flavor intensity, bright acidity and wonderful aging potential.

Mount Edelstone has been crafted by the Henschke family for over 70 years and is one of the longest consecutively produced single-vineyard wines in Australia. Planted in 1912 by Ronald Angas, a descendant of George Fife Angas who played a significant role in the foundation of South Australia, the Mount Edelstone Vineyard comprises solely of Shiraz, which was unusual for its time. The unique geological make up of deep red-brown clay-loam to clay results in low yields from the ungrafted centenarian vines. First bottled as a single-vineyard wine in 1952 by fourth-generation winemaker Cyril Henschke."

The 2022 The Wheelwright Single Vineyard Shiraz is highly perfumed with purple flowers and lifted spice. This is loaded with pomegranate, raspberry, red licorice, pink peppercorn (in that attractive citrussy way that pink peppercorns can bring) and green olive tapenade. This is structural and yet juicy, savory (tannins) but sweet (fruit) and incredibly persistent and lingering. This offers immense pleasure now, but it will, like all the Henschke wines, evolve positively in the cellar for decades to come. The 2022 vintage brings such delicacy and freshness to this wine. I love it.

According to Henschke: "The Wheelwright Shiraz expands on Cyril's legacy and his belief in the outstanding quality of Eden Valley Shiraz. On the winery's centenary in 1968, Cyril planted a small Shiraz vineyard in the cooler part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, in the central Eden Valley. It first became a source of Shiraz for his 'Claret' style wines, and decades of patience have allowed these vines to develop their own fascinating character and complexity. As the vines approached 50 years of age in 2018, Stephen and Prue released the first vintage of this wine from the 2015 season to commemorate 150 years of Henschke family winemaking and pay tribute to founder Johann Christian Henschke." AUD RRP $165.

Tasting vintages side by side has got to be one of the most exciting ways to make a decision on how you see a wine. The differences in vintage conditions lead to different decisions during the growing season and winemaking, and it can lead to altogether different wines. Now, consider 2019 in the glass on my left (warm, dry vintage—very low yielding) and 2018 on my right (warm but not hot, ripe, plenty of red fruits, better yields than 2019). I far prefer it in this vintage. The 2018 Shiraz Clos Otto has a suppleness of fruit and a flow of tannin in the mouth that makes it incredibly moreish (despite its density and concentration). It is powerfully coiled, layered and pillowed and shows a precision and an expansive generosity that makes for a pleasurable time. Both are very well handled, but the 2018 has it by a whisker.

The 2022 Spring Farm Block 74 Cabernet leads with a bouquet that can only be described as spicy, sophisticated and supple. The wine is from the Spring Farm vineyard, and this block 74 is at 485 meters in elevation, planted to a westerly aspect that catches the afternoon sun. For all the intensity of the aromas, the palate is finer and more detailed than expected—it moves toward "delicate" with unnerving grace, and like a fleet-footed assassin, it sails across the palate with almost weightless impact. This is leafy and fine in the vein of great Clare Valley Cabernet, and it has the added benefit of seamless oak framing. It's a great wine. 13.9% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2021 Spring Farm Block 81 Malbec leads with chocolate box and pomegranate, wilted garden rose, raspberry and pink peppercorns. Dried mint and shaved fennel complete the bouquet. In the mouth, the wine is ferrous, bloody and dry, with a splay of tannin that shapes the fruit through the middle palate and finish. This is a superb rendition of Malbec. It is succulent and chewy. Tasting it alongside the Spring Farm Cabernet, one can't help but wonder at the magic that could have been possible with a blend of the two. Sealed under screw cap.

Very little of this wine was bottled—just 600 liters. This is the Malbec that contributed to the 2021 Clarevale, and what was "left over" was bottled as this single-variety cuvée.

I once tasted through a vertical of The Armagh Shiraz with Tom and Sam Barry, and it was as illuminating as it was enjoyable. I still think about that day when I taste current-release Armaghs, as I learned something vital about my own approach to the wine during that tasting. In a nutshell, the winemaking has never been better or more precise than it is under Tom Barry's direction. The wines across the board have better clarity and precision than ever before, and the construction takes a back seat to the vineyard in almost all cases, which is the highest form of compliment I can think to give to any winemaker. In the case of The Armagh Shiraz, the early wines were matured in American oak and sealed under cork. Closure willing, great bottles of these old wines are great experiences, and I feel no shortage of nostalgia when I drink them. The wines of the current day are sealed under screw cap and matured in French oak, and the wine has never been better, fresher, nor more sophisticated. As the nostalgic shackles of the past are removed bit by bit each vintage, the incremental improvements to viticulture and winemaking are exposed, and so through the "loss" of one aspect, the gain of another is had.

And so, to the wine. Here, the 2022 The Armagh Shiraz is a product of the cooler, wetter vintage in 2022 than was experienced in the great 2021 before it. The wine is detailed and fresh, with rose petals and earth, hung deli meat and ironstone, star anise, clove and dark chocolate. The wine retains the DNA of those early wines in its expression of brown/purple fruit, warm baking spices and roasted meat, yet the lift and vibrancy of the new-guard thinking is subtly overlaid. This is a tremendous release, perhaps slightly lighter than the deep 2021 and with greater edge and complexity. It is excellent. The lessons learned in the cool and wet 2017 vintage were aptly applied in 2022 via shoot thinning and green harvesting. The fermentation and oak vessels were similarly adapted this year to suit the season. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

A new offering that I have never tasted before is the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon The Benbournie, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 14 months in French oak. This spectacular effort admirably demonstrates what can be achieved in Clare Valley with Cabernet. (See the wines of Kilikanoon as well.) Gorgeous peppery, minty, black currant, and flowery scents jump from the glass of this inky/purple-hued wine. Full-bodied, powerful, intense, and rich, with notes of roasted meats, dried herbs, and spice, good purity, and a sensational finish, it is accessible now, and should drink well for 15-20 years.

The 2012 vintage in Margaret River was classical and fine; many producers made excellent quality wines in this vintage, and for me, the reds are defined by a ripeness of tannin, which is fully resolved in every regard. Here, the 2012 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is layered with cocoa nib, coffee grounds, sage, cassis, blackberry, mulberry, summer raspberry and dried curry leaf. In the mouth, it exudes polish and tannin ... a graceful, almost effortless wine. Sensational.

The 2016 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is a fierce wine with layers of tannins, yet the fruit manages to be supple and fresh on the mid-palate. It's leafy and brooding and dark, with cassis, resin, tar and star anise, hints of blackberry and tobacco and a mineral skeleton of fine tannins; it feels of the earth and place. There's nice clarity too. It is fresh, in its way, and certainly has a very long road ahead of it. Sealed under screw cap.

The 2018 vintage in Margaret River was perhaps the best vintage in the modern commercial history of the region (i.e., since 1967). Most producers made their best wines in this year, and despite a string of extremely high-quality vintages that followed (2019 - cool, aromatic; 2020 - moderate to warm, great power and tannin structure; 2022 - too early to tell but whispers abound that it rivals 2018, certainly a warm year), it remains a standalone vintage in its outlay of powerful fruit and shape. The 2018 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is the best made at the estate, and I say that ahead of my favored 2014 and 2012 vintages.

The 2019 Art Series Chardonnay is filling out beautifully, within the confines of its svelte, mineral form. The vintage was cooler and later than either of the vintages either side, and the wines are aromatic and detailed by virtue of that. I'd still recommend leaving this wine in bottle for another couple of years; they are so slow to evolve that the primary fruit remains vital for at least the first decade. The benefit of waiting gives you extra complexity layered over the fruit, which blooms and plumes with time. The winemaking remains relatively consistent across the years: hand-picked fruit from Block 20 and 22 (planted in 1976 and 1978, respectively). Up to 30% of the cuvée was whole bunch pressed to 100% new Burgundian oak, while the balance was destemmed, crushed and pressed to 100% new Bordelais oak. Sulfured post-ferment in order to discourage malolactic fermentation, both components remain in barrel for 11 months.

The 2020 Art Series Chardonnay favorably reflects the positive aspects of the 2020 growing season, which was warm and dry, and at that time, it was the earliest harvest start time that Margaret River had experienced. That statistic has since been overtaken by ensuing vintages—2024 is a stark example. This wine is tightly coiled and colored white in its characters: nectarine, white peach, white currant, white pepper and pineapple husk. I recall soon after its release in 2022, I tasted this wine blind at one of my wine group nights, and at that tightly bound stage, I couldn't see Margaret River nor the seasonal warmth in the glass. It has since fleshed out somewhat and now is looking more like its place and year. The acidity is juicy and almost puckering in its intensity, and it lingers long after the wine has gone. Sealed under screw cap.

A terrific effort, the 2015 Marsican Shiraz is a 220-case barrel selection of the best Shiraz in the cellar. It's an artful blend of fruity (blackberries and blueberries) and savory (black olives and roasted meat) in a full-bodied, creamy-textured package. Rich, supple and long, it's a true beauty, ending with elegance and aplomb.

The 2021 Langi Shiraz is blue-fruited and aromatic, with black spice and olive brine, field flowers and crushed rocks. It is kind of ethereal in its way. It has an authentic feeling, of the earth, and it's floral, fine and long, with substance and finesse. This is a superstar wine; it's really great. No whole-bunch grapes were used in this vintage. The block was largely planted in 1969. 14.8% alcohol (although if I had to guess, I would have said it was almost a whole percent less, such is its delicacy), sealed under screw cap. Release date: September 2024.

I really like this wine, more so every year. Stylistically, it sits in a classical, nutty, creamy sort of space; the sophistication of it seems to be refined each vintage, which sends it in the right direction, for my tastes anyway. On the nose, this 2022 Chardonnay presents salted cashews, white spring florals, firm nectarine, Golden Delicious apple and a splay of beeswax/tatami mat nuances and brine. On the palate, the wine builds on the path set forth by the bouquet—it is rich and wide, textural and fulsome yet with acidity and length that drags the width of the wine out to a focused and long close. It fermented in barrel, with malolactic fermentation eschewed, and it matured in a selection of French barriques (30% new), older barrels and large cask (500 liters). Hard pressing constructs the phenolic shape of the wine—a great thing—and the wine was matured for 11 months. The acidity through the finish is salty and juicy, and it leaves an uptick of energy and life in the mouth once the wine is gone. This is really good. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2023 Chardonnay is nutty and restrained, with a salty splay of acidity through the middle palate and finish. The wine is creamy, layered and sophisticated, and it is shaped by taut phenolics that support the abundance of fruit flavor in the mouth. After just one sip at the beginning of this note, the flavors and chalky texture can still be felt. An excellent wine each year, this 2023 no exception. There are notes of biscotti, spiced almonds, cashew, white peach, sea salt and stewed apple. What a gorgeous wine this is. It is harmonious. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2023 Pinot Noir is delicate and fine and leads with an array of red berries, exotic spices and bramble. The oak adds a creamy element that frames the aromas, and this pulls through to the palate as well. The wine here is full spectrum and savory; while the fruit core is bright red, there is a distinct wrap of iodine, oyster shell, forest moss, sweet tobacco pouch and the merest hint of tapenade. The wine really grows on you the more it is tasted, the net affect being totally charming, complex and intriguing. 13.5% alcohol sealed under natural cork.

The 2013 Quintet is so aromatic! It has bright cassis-y fruit on the nose along with raspberry seed and blueberry (the first time I've seen this character). There's a grape-y, bubblegum inflection on the nose, and it weaves into the fruit in the mouth. This is super fresh, supple and exciting, actually. There is lovely clarity of fruit in the mouth. The tannins are chalky through the finish. This is a gorgeous wine. 12.9% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.

The 2019 Quintet was served to us at dinner in Yarraglen this week, and it looked impossibly fresh and red fruited on that night. In the lineup here today, the warm season has given the wine a density and gravitas, but it does it with a surge of buoyancy and density at the same time. The wine is black-fruited as opposed to red here, but with ruby inflections. It has a super pleasurable feel in the mouth. 13% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.

It's no secret that the Quintet is one of my favorite Cabernet blends in Australia. I collect a few bottles for my cellar each year because of three reasons: they speak of site and place eloquently and gracefully, they age in the same manner, and despite every and any season, the dry-grown vines prevail. I love the vintage variation through the lens of house style; these are natural feeling, unforced vineyard wines and a proud statement of what is possible in the world of global Cabernet, and Australian Cabernet more specifically.

So, the 2021 Quintet comprises 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, Cabernet Franc 17%, Petit Verdot 6% and Malbec 2%. On the nose, there is a forest of red berries—mid-weight and balanced in their flow of aromatics. It has notes of pomegranate, cassis, a hint of cocoa, graphite and tobacco, star anise and salted licorice. In the mouth, the calling card of this estate is undoubtedly the tannins, and they flow and weave through the fruit at every turn. This is a silken wine, the tannins like carded silk. If you've ever carded fleece or a raw substrate like that, you know the satisfaction and progress of that process. The tannins here have that open-weave, unfettered feeling—they are what they are and are not created/built/etc. There is nothing forced here. The season has yielded a balanced and fine wine, and the tannins feel like they plume through the fruit, like blood in the water. I cannot separate the fruit from the tannin. It's chewy. Excellent. I'm looking forward to seeing this again in a decade.

The 2022 Quintet comes from the estate vineyard planted in 1971 in Coldstream, Yarra Valley. The vineyard is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Merlot (25%), Cabernet Franc (15%), Malbec (5%) and Petit Verdot (5%), and this more or less reflects the final cépage each year—though it is also dependent on vintage conditions, fruit set, etc. Aromatically, the wine leads with milk chocolate, cassis, tobacco and blood, with layers of dried herbs, cinnamon cassia, raspberry seed and something minty in the echelon of star anise and fennel—even delicately pushing to aniseed. As per usual, the tannins feel effortless and naturally forged, inducing movement and chew while drinking. This is a silky, seamless wine and is routinely one of my favorite Australian wines each year. Each of the varieties were picked and fermented separately and kept on the skins for about two weeks. The wine matured for 22 months in a variety of French oak: 30% new barriques, 25% in large format (1,500 liters or larger), with the balance in two- to five-year-old barriques. The wine has a firmness through the tail end of the finish, which for me puts it slightly behind the previous vintage in terms of quality but does nothing to dent the space it occupies in my heart. This is a great wine and a great producer. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.

The 2023 Quintet is, like every other Quintet I've tasted in my life, pure joy. The wine is famous for its fine frame and floral aromatics, its ability to age what feels interminably and its unfettered expression of this corner of the Yarra Valley—Coldstream. While the cooler season of 2023 has shaped some of the elements of the wine, it remains true to its site and leaves a gentle cedar note trail through the memory. It has more pomegranate and cherry than cassis or blackberry, along with notes of violets, bay leaf and star anise even. It is a beautiful wine, one of my favorite Cabernets in this country. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam cork.

The 2024 The Rocket Chardonnay leads with a spicy reduction on the nose, with notes of freshly picked curry leaf, caper brine, preserved lemon rind and yellow peach. In the mouth, the wine is crunchy, saline, textural and expansive. Far from clipping the fruit, the reduction feels to open it up through the finish, showing real freedom of expression and ease. This is a beautiful wine, one that is as delicate as it is a statement of winemaking. It seems effortless, despite the clear effort. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2008 Bin 620 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz (a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Shiraz) is a little restrained on the nose, presenting earthy, black truffle, moss covered bark and loam aromas over gentle notes of cassis, crushed blackberries, chocolate mint and pencil shavings, plus a fragrant whiff of cloves. Medium to full bodied, very ripe and rich in the mouth, the complex, layered fruit is densely packed and well supported by firm, finely grained tannins and very crisp acid. The finish is very long with a subtle hint of mint interspersed with warm berries, vanilla and baking spices. Consider drinking it 2015 to 2025+. Only about 900 cases were made of this wine.

A wine that flirts with perfection, and should rival the 1986 as one of the legendary Granges produced, the 1998 has one of the highest alcohol contents (nearly 15%) as well as one of the highest percentages of Shiraz in the blend (97%). Its stunning purple color is accompanied by exceptionally sweet aromas of blackberry liqueur intermixed with barbecue spices, an endearing, smoky earthiness, pepper, roasted meats, and coffee. Huge, massive, unctuously textured, and extraordinarily youthful, this impressive wine is a candidate for perfection. It should continue to evolve over the next three decades.

Grange, Penfolds’ flagship wine, is, by many accounts, the most renowned and world-famous wine produced in Australia, and these six vintages from my cellar all acquitted themselves well. These wines are almost always Shiraz, but many vintages include less than 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and there are cross-appellations blends from vineyards in the Barossa and McLaren Vale.

It is always a treat to taste Australia’s most famous wine, Penfolds’ Grange cuvee (the word Hermitage has been dropped because of legal issues). The 2001 Grange is one of the few vintages of this cuvee to be composed of 100% Shiraz (the others being 1951, 1952, 1963, 1999, and 2000). Aged 17 months in 100% American oak, and tipping the scales at 14.5% alcohol, the 2001 is undeniably one of the top examples of this wine. At this stage, it appears to eclipse the 1998 and 1996. Inky/blue/purple to the rim, with a stunning perfume of blueberries, blackberries, chocolate, graphite, and earth, it boasts good acidity, huge tannins, magnificent concentration, and a multilayered, textured mouthfeel. It is a big, but impeccably well-balanced Shiraz that should shed some of its structure and tannin over the next 4-5 years, and be at its best between 2010-2030+.

Deep garnet with a touch of brick, the 2002 Grange is locked in a time capsule, like many of the 2002s, yielding a very youthful nose of red currants and red cherries, kirsch and violets with some lovely exotic spices in the background. Quite perfumed and pretty in terms of fruit expression in the mouth, the structure is rock solid, with a lively backbone cutting through the muscular fruit and great purity to the finish. If you're looking for that real "Grange" experience, best to keep cellaring it another 5-10+ years.

Containing just a dollop of 4.1% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2005 Grange is about 85%+ Barossa fruit with the remaining proportions coming from McLaren vale and Coonawarra. It was aged for 18 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads. The nose begins a bit animal with some smoked game, mincemeat and bacon notes emerging over the freshly crushed, sun-warmed blackberries, black currant cordial, earth, black truffles, anise and allspice. Rich and full with very firm very fine tannins and very crisp acid, it gives a long finish layered with coffee, mincemeat and toast. Drink it 2013 to 2025+.

With a lot of changes happening around the Foster’s Group, it is business as usual at Penfolds…which seems to operate within its own world. But this is no small world. The vineyard holdings here are vast and the connections with growers go back generations. Chief winemaker Peter Gago is the very well spoken front-man for the production team backed-up Kym Schroeter in charge of the whites and Steve Lienert crafting some very fine, consistent and sometimes inspired reds. If Champagne is all about the art of blending, then Penfolds is the Champagne of Australian wine. Those that think large companies producing wines that emphasize blending can’t make great wines need to think about the Champagne model or simply try some of Penfolds top wines to become believers. That said – check out their recent single vineyard release: the very special 2004 Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon, the first release of a wine made purely from this 100+ year old single block (perhaps the oldest block of Cabernet in the world?) since 1996.

Made from fruit coming predominantly from the Barossa Valley this year (97%) and containing 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2006 Grange has been added to my list of favorite recent vintages. Deep garnet-purple colored, it’s still a little youthfully mute, offering notes of warm cherries, black currants, anise, coffee and toast with underlying hints of soy, yeast extract, black olives and Indian spices. Tight-knit and solidly structured on the medium to full-bodied palate, the concentrated fruit is densely coiled around the firm grainy tannins and very crisp acidity at this stage, but promises something very special in the years to come. It finishes very long, complex and layered with the cedar poking through the fruit purity. Patience is required for this vintage; it should begin opening out around 2016 and drink to 2030+.

Very deep garnet-purple in color the 2008 Grange reveals a truly decadent nose with tons of spices, fruit cake and black & blue fruit compote notes along with nuances of chocolate and potpourri. The full and rich, multi-layered palate has a little oak still showing, it is going through a little bit of a structural stand-out stage, but it doesn't detract on the long and complex finish. It still needs a good few years to develop, though this very opulent, expressive Grange shows the very best of this vintage and the vineyards it hails from.

The 2009 Grange Shiraz is a comprised of 84% Barossa, 8% McLaren, and a little Clare Valley and a little Magill fruit with a small 2% of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. At this youthful stage, this deep garnet-purple colored wine puts forward a vivid expression of blackberry preserve aromas amid underlying cassis, black cherry, spice box, char-grilled meat and chocolate box notes. Surprisingly medium to full-bodied (it smells much fuller!) with taut flavors that are very closed in the mouth, it has firm, chewy tannins to structure through the long and earthy finish. 406 cases imported to the US. Drink it 2018 to 2035+.

The 2010 Grange is a 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 96% Shiraz blend made from Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Magill Estate fruit that was aged 17 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads. Very deep purple-black in color, this is classic Grange - amongst the finest produced - replete with fresh, vibrant and youthful black fruit notes showing some blueberry aromas and accents of camphor, anise and the slightest floral hint plus a whiff of oak in the background to lend a cedar-laced lift to this textbook Shiraz nose. Medium to full-bodied in the mouth, it is very taut and finely constructed showing typically firm, grainy, uniform tannins, great concentration and wonderful persistence on the finish. If I have any very slight complaint of this near perfect wine it is that it seems a little too clinical and appears to speak less of the land and the heart of South Australia and more of the very skilled winemaking than did the Grange from the magical 2008 vintage.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2012 Grange sports an earthy/meaty nose with notes of tree bark, dusty earth, underbrush and chargrill over a core of dried mulberries and Christmas cake, plus hints of pepper and baking spices. Rich, medium to full-bodied and seductive, it has spicy layers and a long meaty/savory finish.

Remember that old Heinz Ketchup “anticipation” ad from the 1970s? The palate of this 2013 Grange does just that. It makes you wait with so much delicious promise being drip fed into the mouth at first—and then it bursts forth and delivers!

This vintage is a blend of 96% Shiraz and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, coming from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra and Magill Estate. Very deep inky purple-black colored, the 2013 Grange has a profoundly scented nose of crème de cassis, preserved black plums, blueberry pie and licorice over nuances of baker’s chocolate, smoky bacon and fragrant earth, plus exotic spice wafts of cumin seed, cardamom, fenugreek and star anise. Unfurling and slowly building in the medium to full-bodied mouth with wonderful grace and depth, it reveals an incredible array of ripe black fruit, spice, meat and earth-inspired flavors, with a rock-solid frame to support this beauty (it should easily cellar for 40+ years!), while previously latent flavors emerge fully on the epically long finish, culminating in that ultimate Grange experience. Oh, yes.

This wine comes with high expectations—as does the vintage. The 2018 vintage across South Australia (and cheekily, we could probably extend the accolade to all of Australia) was excellent. It was warm, but without incident, and responsible for powerfully ripe, serious wines. Many producers made some of their best wines in this vintage. So here, to the 2018 Grange: there is spiced raspberry, lashings of salted licorice, red curry paste, layers of forest berries, rendered lamb fat and crushed pink peppercorns to start. In the mouth, the tannins close around the fruit with the same polish and seamlessness as the 2008, possibly the 2004? Very different vintages, but there is a textural similarity for me. This is polished and glossy and so very pretty. It contains 3% Cabernet Sauvignon this year, and 69% Barossa, 18% McLaren Vale and the balance from Clare Valley. Each of the regions brings with it its own characteristics. Barossa brings the red dirt, blood, deli meat and rust. McLaren Vale brings the plush purple fruits with a side of meat and licorice. Clare brings the polish, the opulence and the velvet texture. With their powers combined, this is an extraordinary Grange. One of the true greats, which will only get better as it ages.