Products

Reviews of 2023 Old Vine Grenache:

95 points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026:
From 1940s bush vines on red-brown loam and deep sand with clay, gravel, ironstone and sandstone from four rows; 10% whole bunch, native yeast, a year in a pair of three-year-old puncheons. This is a spicy wine, in an amaro, vermouth, Campari way. Red cherries, raspberry vinegar (not in a negative way, just the fruit flavour refined and rendered sapid), white pepper, wormwood, coriander seeds, graphite, bitter herbs, cinchona bark, pink peppercorns, some camphor and subtle earthy, leathery, rusty tones. Medium bodied, savoury, tangy in a positively refreshing way. Distinctive. Good.

Reviews of 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon: 

93 points, Campbell Mattinson, April 2026:
The fruit flavours here are so perfectly ripe; not too ripe and not too under. These flavours are complemented ably by bay leaf, tobacco, violet and cedar characters. This wine is varietal, medium in weight, well formed and well balanced, and all these things combined with the charm of the fruit makes for excellent drinking. The value speaks for itself. This is an absolute Buy. 

92 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review, March 2026:
Deep, bright purple-red hue; aromas of crushed leaves, berries and mint rush from the glass. A firm, solid red wine that has masses of tannins and chew, concentrated fruit which is powerful, if a little primal at this stage, while the finish is very firm and begs for time. This is all potential at this early stage. 

Reviews of 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon: 

91 points, Shanteh Wale, South Australian Wine Guide 2026, November 2025:
A mix of blackberries and some pops of rosella and persimmon. Cedar, tree bark and a haze of Aussie bush. Some brown earth and gumnut. An endearing moment of red fruit, which takes us straight to the Vale, is very welcome, both on the nose and palate. This feels designed for both drinking now and medium-term cellaring. It’s also smashable, not something we say every day about Cabernet but can, depending on where it’s from. This is a humble wine at its price but full of vigour and varietal pleasure. Drink now-2032.

*Red Star Value, 93 points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, September 2025:
Mainly from the Hillenvale vineyard that edges from McLaren Vale into the Adelaide Hills, with about 18% off the home Sand Road vineyard. Matured in four- to five-year-old oak. Mulberry, currant, hedgerow, violet, cedar and iodine. Some classic regional cabernet things, but there’s also an ease of delivery, a sweep of texture and finely wrought tannins, with the drinkability factor high – not always the variety’s remit. It’s a calmly progressive take on the grape, and it works very well indeed.

90 points, Campbell Mattinson, September 2025:
This is a light- to medium-weight cabernet with boysenberry, blueberry and redcurrant flavours flowing attractively into mint, violet and vanilla. It feels fresh throughout and drinks easily and well as a result.

Reviews of 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon: 

90 points, Angus Hughson, Vinous, July 2023:
The modern 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon McLaren Vale focuses on drinkability and does it well. Mulberry bush and dark cherry aromas with a solid herbal undertone provide a vibrant start. Fleshy fruits, balanced acidity and well-weighted tannins with a savory, cedary finish of good length define a juicy palate. Solid and ready to go.

92 points, James Suckling:
A bright and vivid array of blueberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants with elements of bracken, leaves and hints of chocolate, too. There’s a plush, supple feel to the palate. Medium body. Red plums and cherries throughout. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Reviews of 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon:

91 points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin MW:
Good-drinking cabernet at the price. Jubey, relatively soft and easygoing, without being anodyne. The extraction of 16 days seems deft in lieu of the bright attack, tannic detail and lithe, crunchy finish. Red-fruit aspersions, some garden herb and green-olive notes round out the package.

91 points, James Suckling 2021, Nick Stock:
Aromas of redcurrants and cassis with black cherries, as well as leaves and forest wood. Some florals, too. The palate comes filled with fine tannins that carry plenty of red and dark-berry flavors. Fresh, mid-weight style.

Reviews of 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon:

94 points , The Real Review, Huon Hooke:
Deep red colour with a strong purple tint. The bouquet is reserved but fresh and cabernet-berry-ish, with a lovely core of fruit sweetness at the centre surrounded by abundant soft tannins. The palate is full-bodied and elegantly cast, with classic cabernet structure and firm tannins completing the picture. The finish is refreshing. This looks to have a bright future. An excellent cabernet and astounding value.

91 points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin MW:
Stock-standard regional cabernet for those seeking a full-bodied red with few surprises. This oozes mint, dried sage, bitter chocolate and cassis scents, all slung over a frame of French oak and fuzzy tannins.

Reviews of 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon:

91 points, James Suckling:
Aromas of graphite, cassis and mint as well as mulberries and forest leaves. The palate has a very rich, intense core of dark cherries, blackberries and cassis. Bold, drinkable style.

Reviews of 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon:

Gold Medal at the CWSA 2017

93 points & red star value, James Halliday, August 2018:
A supremely honest McLaren Vale Cabernet, with warm blackcurrant fruit and a cache of dark chocolate, alongsidey the tannins that will emerge with age.

92 points, Gary Walsh - The Wine Front, June 2017:
Dark fruit, chocolate, a sweet dried herb lift, almost a Dutch liquorice thing too, which I love. Medium bodied, good depth to the fruit, though not heavy either, with oak in the back seat, and drinking pleasure at the wheel. Finish has a Cabernet accent, in with a gentle herbal seasoning, and no shortage of length. So well done.

93 points, Mike Bennie - Wine Business Magazine. May 2017:
This release from the creative set at Hither & Yon strikes a chord. There's a generosity to the wine, it reeks of dark plums, mocha, green herbs, dried fruits and the palate takes a similar path. The distinction here is that the flavours find a brightness even with the weight of deep, dark fruit character, and oak seasons rather than smothers. Generosity reigns well here.

Reviews of 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon:

91 points, James Halliday - Wine Companion, August 2016:
Definitive cabernet aromas hold sway, regional influence playing its part and oak chiming in. Evenly flavoured on the palate, the typical firm cabernet structure in good balance with the typical McLaren Vale generosity.

91 points, Gary Walsh - The Wine Front, August 2016:
Has a pleasant, jubey sort of Throaties® perfume, blackcurrant, blackberry and the like, with subtle spiced oak. Medium bodied, again a little jubey, but nicely done with gummy grippy tannin, freshness and energy, and a cool earthy and black olive laced finish of pleasing length. Very nice.

91 points, Wine Enthusiast (USA), March 2016:
The pitch black wine has a thin dark ruby rim.The attractive and forward nose smells of cassis, sweet spices, sugarcoated walnuts and dates. The palate layers on baked blackberries, pencil lead and dried figs. Moderately long on the finish, this wine is feisty, and youthful. Its strucutre of lightly strappy tannins, brisk acidity and its wealth of well proportioned aromas and flavours point to ageing potential. Drink now through to 2020.

90 points, Stuart Robinson, www.thevinsomniac.com, August 2015:
There's just something about the Hither & Yon wines, be it visual appeal, relative ease on the pocket, approachability without sacrificing varietal character. Consistent. That too. Cherry ripe-esque: mass of fruit over chocolate, without eschewing varietal character. Per the Hither & Yon style, a wine of easy going nature; medium-bodied elegance, suggestion of blueberry and bright fruit in general. So easy - and pleasurable - to drink, not an easy feat to achieve.

Reviews of the 2023 Grenache Carignan:

91 points, Shanteh Wale, South Australian Wine Guide 2026, November 2025:
Mulberry, Christmas cherries and blackcurrant. Fig leaf and black peppercorns. A marriage of red and black fruits with some lightness that dances on the palate; this becomes quite the refreshing number with a few sips and it could handle a very slight chill in the summer months. There is a garrigue of herbs and growing things, some green peppercorn bite. A befitting wine for peppery herbs or a loaded salami and rocket focaccia. Drink now-2028.

92 points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, September 2025:
Off grenache (60%) vines planted in 2009 and carignan (40%) in 2014 from the Sand Road vineyard. This, the first release, is very much in a bistro weight. The buoyant red-berried grenache is lively and juicy, with carignan adding scrubby herb and spice notes, the enthusiasm of the former balanced but not quelled by the latter. It’s an appealing wine, with a zippiness to the finish that will see it work nicely with so many foods, from lighter vegetable plates to fattier meat dishes.

Reviews of 2024 Grenache Mataro:

92 points, Campbell Mattinson, April 2026:
For starters this wine is highly drinkable – it’s more-ish – but then it also has a dry, savoury sense of authenticity too. It feels and tastes like a wine that was grown and made out of the earth, if that makes sense. That’s a significant positive. It tastes of raspberries, black cherries, earth, roasted spices and peppercorns. It’s juicy and ripe up front – there’s a bit of red licorice flavour here – but then it’s dry and well honed through the finish.

Reviews of 2023 Grenache Mataro:

91 points, SA Wine Guide 2025, Shanteh Wale:
Matured for 14 months in old French puncheons. 70% Grenache and 30% Mataro. A real mix of blackberries, red cherry and pomegranate. The wine has a stirring ripe herbal nuance, like creeping ivy over a wild rose bush. Acidity has kept crunchy and vibrant with understated oak rounding out the closure, Mataro giving the wine that little speed hump of flesh on the middle palate. A clever wine that would please a Pinot drinker all the way to a Shiraz drinker. Drink now–2027.

Reviews of 2021 Grenache Mataro:

92 points, James Sucking, April 2023:
Bright, youthful and crunchy with aromas of red cherries, raspberries, pink peppercorns and white pepper. Medium-bodied with vibrant acidity and fine tannins. Peppery and wild finish. 70% Grenache and 30% Mataro. Delicious now.

92 points, Angus Hughson, Vinous, February 2023:
The 2021 Grenache and Mataro blend really delivers thanks to an expressive and generously fruited style radiating with black cherry, baked earth, red currants and older oak with a classic touch of McLaren Vale old iron. The palate is beautifully pitched - mouth-filling flavors and al dente tannins are superbly balanced to deliver genuine power and length.

93 points,  Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal, December 2022:
Medium deep crimson. Strawberry, red cherry, blueberry, bubble gum hint aromas. Sweetly fruited wine wine with ample red fruits, supply velvety textures and fresh indelible acidity before finishing crunchy and long. Very good viscosity and mineral length. Drink now to 2026.

91 points, Wine Advocate 2022, Erin Larkin:
The 2021 Grenache Mataro is composed of 70% Grenache from the Hunt Road vineyard and 30% Mataro from the Sand Road vineyard. This is great! It is vibrant, nervy and fresh, with a skein of tannin that courses through the fruit. The acidity is briny and makes for juicy drinking. Well played.

Reviews of 2020 Grenache Mataro:

93 points, James Suckling 2021, Nick Stock:
Strikingly bright and fresh raspberry aromas here with wild herbs and bracken, as well as leafy tones. Lively red and blue fruit sits concentrated on the palate. A fresh blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Mataro.

90 points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin:
Hand picked, with a smidgeon of whole bunches (10%) in the 70% grenache. The oak, all used barriques. Sweet floral aromas segue to Turkish delight and kirsch. White pepper, Seville orange zest and clove lace the long finish. Sappy, crunchy and yet, a bit sweet.

Reviews of 2019 Grenache Mataro:

92 points, Winefront by Mike Bennie:
From good folks comes a good wine of good grapes from two good vineyards. Tension is the first thing that came to mind. This ain’t no blousy red. No, indeed, it sits on train tracks of tannin and acidity, a good bite of amaro tang and amongst all that some jubey, blackcurrant fruitiness. Perfume is mild but floral-leaning with dashes of peppery spice. It’s a wine that has you sit up straight and pay attention. It’s a bit serious, but good in that way. Medium weight, svelte, tense. Good stuff.

Reviews of 2018 Grenache Mataro:

James Halliday, Wine Companion, January 2020, 95 points and top value wine:
Classic southern Rhône Valley style, with the wild herbs and spices of the garrigue giving pleasure in the rims of aromas and flavours alike. It will be hard to keep your hands of it, but it could be a knockout with more time in bottle. 14.5% alc.

92 Points, James Suckling:
Bright, red-fruit fragrance here with some darker berries in the mix, too. The palate is crisp, succulent and juicy, as a good young grenache should be.

Mike Bennie - WBM March/April 2020, 93 points:
There's a really lovely marriage of sweeter fruit gamey, earthy characters in this wine. I like the general sense of detail in the wine too - sheets of fruit character layered on spice, savouriness and a fresh pool of acidity. It feels quietly complex but wildly drinkable.

Reviews of 2017 Grenache Mataro:

James Halliday, Wine Companion, August 2018, 94 points and red value star:
Superb colour; at maximum turbocharged revolutions, but the power is smoothly delivered across the palate. Because the balance is very good, this richly endowed wine will repay cellaring particularly well.

Mike Bennie, WBM July 2018, 93 points:
Lovely stuff. Fragrant with musky-spice, raspberry and cranberry scents. The palate does a similar turn and sits squarely in a medium wieght wine zone. Some heft to the flavours but the finish is a bell ring of clean acidity. Appealing as. 14.5%, $27.

Decanter World Wine Awards (2018). Silver Medal. 93 points. www.decanter.com 

Reviews of 2016 Grenache Mataro:

Andrew Graham, Oz Wine Review, June 2017, www.ozwinereview.com:
The Leask Brothers are switched on growers and these wines typically show plenty of sunny generosity (if sometimes a little heat). The blend here is 60/40 Grenache Mataro; a good mix. Lots of juicy black and red berry fruit. Lovely. The tannins have a real sandy Grenachey shape to them (but with a licoricey oomph). Palate is silky smooth, slightly syrupy but really quite satisfying in its curranty flow, a big luscious wines that is very young, but exuberantly so. It could do with another year in bottle to integrate the bold flavours a little, but the flow of red fruit is undeniably attractive. Very well priced too. Best drinking: 2018-2028. 17.7/20, 92/100+. 14.5%, $25.

Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, May 2017, www.winefront.com.au:
60% Grenache, 40% Mataro. I don’t have a feel for 2016 in McLaren Vale, as yet, but so far, I like what I see. A hearty red, but one that’s not too heavy. Red fruits, some floral perfume, slight confectionary notes, but tapered in with dried herb. It’s medium bodied, juicy and savoury at once, with a rub of sandy tannin, fresh red fruits, and a gently bitter amaro herb and earthy aftertaste. This goes all right. Good drinking here. 91 points.

Huon Hooke, April 2017, www.huonhooke.com
Deep red/purple colour, the bouquet black cherry, spices, firm tannins and good body weight. A nicely judged kiss of oak. Balanced and complete. 90 points.

Stuart Robinson, May 2017, www.thevinsomniac.com:
Nigh on pitch-perfect 60/40 blend of two listed players. There's just something so wickedly, consistently, deliciously moreish about H&Y reds. This no exception, it extracts a juicy, jubey aromatic without straying too far towards confection. Call it an allure, call it what you will, inviting is what it is. Slipping around the palate with ease in its easy going, red fruited nature. There's more juicy red fruit, a slip of tannin providing an edge, a framework to carry. Mataro brings up the rear, it's bassy foundations adding length, substance, spice. 91 points.

Reviews of 2015 Grenache Mataro: 

August 2016. 90 Points. Huon Hooke. www.huonhooke.com
Spicy, sweet cherry, confectionery aromas. The palate is tight and lean with firm, fine tannins and a pleasant after-grip. A good, clean, bright wine of some depth. Very smart wine.

August 2016. James Halliday, Wine Companion. 92 Points:
Aromas and flavours are both savoury and sweet-fruited with raspberry, chocolate, and mulchy notes in the mix. Well integrated tannin and acid keeps things fresh and in order.

May 2016. Max Allen, Australian Gourmet Traveller:
Top Drops of the Month, No 1. "heaps of juicy red berry-fruit flavours, but there is also a delicious gutsy earthiness-like sweet black composting leaf litter-that sets it apart.

March 2016. Stuart Robinson, www.the vinsomniac.com.au, 91 points:
A 60/40 blend of Grenache and Mataro respectively, and 100% McLaren Vale. Raspberry, red fruit, some wild herb/garrigue thing with a choc-raspberry-fudge milkshake. Trust me, it works. Juicy, a little dark fruit, chocolate, fine tannin; palate enlivening acidity that brings back the wine full circle. There's fruit in abundance, a little savoury tickle, good length. Another stellar wine.

February 2016. Winsor Dobbin. www.winsorschoice.blogspot.com.au:
This is a fabulously accessible blend of 60% grenache and 40% mataro – the ripe, sweet grenache fruit melding with the earthy funkiness of the mataro to produce a beautifully balanced red that is designed for immediate enjoyment. No need to cellar this one; just put some gourmet sausages on the barbeque and you have a wine/food match made in heaven.

February 2016. 90 points. Gary Walsh. www.winefront.com.au:
Good stuff. It’s crisp and perky, almost Italianate. Raspberry rope, strawberry, dried herb perfume. Medium bodied, crunchy and fresh, red fruits, light sandy tannin, more red fruits on the finish. Almost a ‘volcanic rock’ kind of thing going on. Nice to see a McLaren Vale wine that so bright and ‘food friendly’.

Reviews of 2024 Grenache Mataro:

92 points, Campbell Mattinson, April 2026:
For starters this wine is highly drinkable – it’s more-ish – but then it also has a dry, savoury sense of authenticity too. It feels and tastes like a wine that was grown and made out of the earth, if that makes sense. That’s a significant positive. It tastes of raspberries, black cherries, earth, roasted spices and peppercorns. It’s juicy and ripe up front – there’s a bit of red licorice flavour here – but then it’s dry and well honed through the finish.

Reviews of 2023 Grenache Mataro:

91 points, SA Wine Guide 2025, Shanteh Wale:
Matured for 14 months in old French puncheons. 70% Grenache and 30% Mataro. A real mix of blackberries, red cherry and pomegranate. The wine has a stirring ripe herbal nuance, like creeping ivy over a wild rose bush. Acidity has kept crunchy and vibrant with understated oak rounding out the closure, Mataro giving the wine that little speed hump of flesh on the middle palate. A clever wine that would please a Pinot drinker all the way to a Shiraz drinker. Drink now–2027.

Reviews of 2021 Grenache Mataro:

92 points, James Sucking, April 2023:
Bright, youthful and crunchy with aromas of red cherries, raspberries, pink peppercorns and white pepper. Medium-bodied with vibrant acidity and fine tannins. Peppery and wild finish. 70% Grenache and 30% Mataro. Delicious now.

92 points, Angus Hughson, Vinous, February 2023:
The 2021 Grenache and Mataro blend really delivers thanks to an expressive and generously fruited style radiating with black cherry, baked earth, red currants and older oak with a classic touch of McLaren Vale old iron. The palate is beautifully pitched - mouth-filling flavors and al dente tannins are superbly balanced to deliver genuine power and length.

93 points,  Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal, December 2022:
Medium deep crimson. Strawberry, red cherry, blueberry, bubble gum hint aromas. Sweetly fruited wine wine with ample red fruits, supply velvety textures and fresh indelible acidity before finishing crunchy and long. Very good viscosity and mineral length. Drink now to 2026.

91 points, Wine Advocate 2022, Erin Larkin:
The 2021 Grenache Mataro is composed of 70% Grenache from the Hunt Road vineyard and 30% Mataro from the Sand Road vineyard. This is great! It is vibrant, nervy and fresh, with a skein of tannin that courses through the fruit. The acidity is briny and makes for juicy drinking. Well played.

Reviews of 2020 Grenache Mataro:

93 points, James Suckling 2021, Nick Stock:
Strikingly bright and fresh raspberry aromas here with wild herbs and bracken, as well as leafy tones. Lively red and blue fruit sits concentrated on the palate. A fresh blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Mataro.

90 points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin:
Hand picked, with a smidgeon of whole bunches (10%) in the 70% grenache. The oak, all used barriques. Sweet floral aromas segue to Turkish delight and kirsch. White pepper, Seville orange zest and clove lace the long finish. Sappy, crunchy and yet, a bit sweet.

Reviews of 2019 Grenache Mataro:

92 points, Winefront by Mike Bennie:
From good folks comes a good wine of good grapes from two good vineyards. Tension is the first thing that came to mind. This ain’t no blousy red. No, indeed, it sits on train tracks of tannin and acidity, a good bite of amaro tang and amongst all that some jubey, blackcurrant fruitiness. Perfume is mild but floral-leaning with dashes of peppery spice. It’s a wine that has you sit up straight and pay attention. It’s a bit serious, but good in that way. Medium weight, svelte, tense. Good stuff.

Reviews of 2018 Grenache Mataro:

James Halliday, Wine Companion, January 2020, 95 points and top value wine:
Classic southern Rhône Valley style, with the wild herbs and spices of the garrigue giving pleasure in the rims of aromas and flavours alike. It will be hard to keep your hands of it, but it could be a knockout with more time in bottle. 14.5% alc.

92 Points, James Suckling:
Bright, red-fruit fragrance here with some darker berries in the mix, too. The palate is crisp, succulent and juicy, as a good young grenache should be.

Mike Bennie - WBM March/April 2020, 93 points:
There's a really lovely marriage of sweeter fruit gamey, earthy characters in this wine. I like the general sense of detail in the wine too - sheets of fruit character layered on spice, savouriness and a fresh pool of acidity. It feels quietly complex but wildly drinkable.

Reviews of 2017 Grenache Mataro:

James Halliday, Wine Companion, August 2018, 94 points and red value star:
Superb colour; at maximum turbocharged revolutions, but the power is smoothly delivered across the palate. Because the balance is very good, this richly endowed wine will repay cellaring particularly well.

Mike Bennie, WBM July 2018, 93 points:
Lovely stuff. Fragrant with musky-spice, raspberry and cranberry scents. The palate does a similar turn and sits squarely in a medium wieght wine zone. Some heft to the flavours but the finish is a bell ring of clean acidity. Appealing as. 14.5%, $27.

Decanter World Wine Awards (2018). Silver Medal. 93 points. www.decanter.com 

Reviews of 2016 Grenache Mataro:

Andrew Graham, Oz Wine Review, June 2017, www.ozwinereview.com:
The Leask Brothers are switched on growers and these wines typically show plenty of sunny generosity (if sometimes a little heat). The blend here is 60/40 Grenache Mataro; a good mix. Lots of juicy black and red berry fruit. Lovely. The tannins have a real sandy Grenachey shape to them (but with a licoricey oomph). Palate is silky smooth, slightly syrupy but really quite satisfying in its curranty flow, a big luscious wines that is very young, but exuberantly so. It could do with another year in bottle to integrate the bold flavours a little, but the flow of red fruit is undeniably attractive. Very well priced too. Best drinking: 2018-2028. 17.7/20, 92/100+. 14.5%, $25.

Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, May 2017, www.winefront.com.au:
60% Grenache, 40% Mataro. I don’t have a feel for 2016 in McLaren Vale, as yet, but so far, I like what I see. A hearty red, but one that’s not too heavy. Red fruits, some floral perfume, slight confectionary notes, but tapered in with dried herb. It’s medium bodied, juicy and savoury at once, with a rub of sandy tannin, fresh red fruits, and a gently bitter amaro herb and earthy aftertaste. This goes all right. Good drinking here. 91 points.

Huon Hooke, April 2017, www.huonhooke.com
Deep red/purple colour, the bouquet black cherry, spices, firm tannins and good body weight. A nicely judged kiss of oak. Balanced and complete. 90 points.

Stuart Robinson, May 2017, www.thevinsomniac.com:
Nigh on pitch-perfect 60/40 blend of two listed players. There's just something so wickedly, consistently, deliciously moreish about H&Y reds. This no exception, it extracts a juicy, jubey aromatic without straying too far towards confection. Call it an allure, call it what you will, inviting is what it is. Slipping around the palate with ease in its easy going, red fruited nature. There's more juicy red fruit, a slip of tannin providing an edge, a framework to carry. Mataro brings up the rear, it's bassy foundations adding length, substance, spice. 91 points.

Reviews of 2015 Grenache Mataro: 

August 2016. 90 Points. Huon Hooke. www.huonhooke.com
Spicy, sweet cherry, confectionery aromas. The palate is tight and lean with firm, fine tannins and a pleasant after-grip. A good, clean, bright wine of some depth. Very smart wine.

August 2016. James Halliday, Wine Companion. 92 Points:
Aromas and flavours are both savoury and sweet-fruited with raspberry, chocolate, and mulchy notes in the mix. Well integrated tannin and acid keeps things fresh and in order.

May 2016. Max Allen, Australian Gourmet Traveller:
Top Drops of the Month, No 1. "heaps of juicy red berry-fruit flavours, but there is also a delicious gutsy earthiness-like sweet black composting leaf litter-that sets it apart.

March 2016. Stuart Robinson, www.the vinsomniac.com.au, 91 points:
A 60/40 blend of Grenache and Mataro respectively, and 100% McLaren Vale. Raspberry, red fruit, some wild herb/garrigue thing with a choc-raspberry-fudge milkshake. Trust me, it works. Juicy, a little dark fruit, chocolate, fine tannin; palate enlivening acidity that brings back the wine full circle. There's fruit in abundance, a little savoury tickle, good length. Another stellar wine.

February 2016. Winsor Dobbin. www.winsorschoice.blogspot.com.au:
This is a fabulously accessible blend of 60% grenache and 40% mataro – the ripe, sweet grenache fruit melding with the earthy funkiness of the mataro to produce a beautifully balanced red that is designed for immediate enjoyment. No need to cellar this one; just put some gourmet sausages on the barbeque and you have a wine/food match made in heaven.

February 2016. 90 points. Gary Walsh. www.winefront.com.au:
Good stuff. It’s crisp and perky, almost Italianate. Raspberry rope, strawberry, dried herb perfume. Medium bodied, crunchy and fresh, red fruits, light sandy tannin, more red fruits on the finish. Almost a ‘volcanic rock’ kind of thing going on. Nice to see a McLaren Vale wine that so bright and ‘food friendly’.

Reviews of the 2023 Touriga Tempranillo:

92 Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, February 2025:
From the home Sand Road vineyard. The 80/20% touriga/tempranillo were vinified separately, but both were destemmed and raised in older oak before blending and spending three months in tank. This is thoroughly Iberian in feel, with lilting red and purple florals across slurpy blue and black fruits. Black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, violet, lavender, dried thyme, dark spices and bitter chocolate, underpinned by a regional ferrous note. It’s pulpy, but savoury, too, the balance of varieties harmonious. It would be great with charred lamb and caponata, or the like.

90 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review, February 2025:
Deep purple colour; sweet herb and raspberry/red fruit aromas, a trace of cola. The wine is soft and medium-full bodied, young and fruity but also approachable and drinking well already, not simplistic/raw fruit but something more.

Reviews of the 2022 Touriga Tempranillo:

93 points, Silver Medal, 2024 National Wine Show

95 points, Gold Medal, McLaren Vale Wine Show 2023

93 Points, The Vintage Journal Summer Wine Guide 2023:
Bright cherry ruby. This opens up with a delicious core of berry fruits - blackberry and dark cherry laced with red strawberry and tobacco spice. It then flows through to a chocolate, inky and earthy core of flavour with tannin torque through to a beautifully sustained finish. Very impressive.

92 Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, April 2023:
These blokes make some very tasty wine. So purple and intense. There’s salted plum, sarsaparilla, violet, a fair bit of ozone, dark chocolate and liquorice, and toasted hazelnut. Fleshy and ripe, all the toasted nuts and cherry chocolate, are also quite salty and umami, with silty tannin, lavish flavour, ferrous and wheaty, with a rich finish.

Reviews of the 2021 Touriga Tempranillo:

89 Points, MaryAnn Worobiec, Wine Spectator, December 2023:
Starts with blueberry syrup, black liquorice and floral details of violet, segueing to toasted green tea on the juicy core. Reveals firming, earthy tannins and a hint of fresh mint on the finish, Touriga Nacional and Tempranillo. Drink now.

16.5/20 Jancis Robinson, September 2023:
Pleasing dark fruit with the black tea-leaf note that I sometimes associate with Tempranillo. Finish has lots of medicinal qualities, proper complexity and fragrance. Savoury and tight in structure. (RH).

94 Points,  Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal, December 2022:
Medium crimson. Musky plum, blueberry, red cherry aromas with lifted aniseed notes. Subtle, sweet and juicy with blue fruits, slinky loose knit tannins and refreshing pure acidity. Finish is chalk and mineral. Attractive early fruit forward drinking style. Drink now, soon.

92 points, Wine Advocate 2022, Erin Larkin:
The 2021 Touriga Tempranillo is layered with salted licorice, pomegranate, raspberry leaf tea, garden mint and brine. This is thoroughly enjoyable and not at all the "prohibitively tannic" wine I was expecting. (I love tannins, and these are very fine.) It is mineral and juicy and all kinds of good. Highly recommended.

92 points, The Wine Front 2022, Mike Bennie:
Touriga and Tempranillo, blended for your pleasure. Oof, so purple-fruited, juicy-slurpy and outrageously delicious. It’s inky dark in colour and vibrant as all get out, a cavalcade of raspberry liquorice, blood plums, woody spice and cherry cola. Gently savoury in all that too, but its way more about that friendly and bombastic nature and a vivid portal to the varieties, with come-hither attractive everything. While it does all this, it sits quietly complex in its detail too. A no brainer. Slosh it around with abandon.

92 points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin:
This is delicious drinking, attesting to the future of the Vale as makers become more proficient with better suited varieties. Touriga services the floral perfume and vibrancy, while Tempranillo fills the mid-palate with dark cherry, thyme, mint and sage, pushing the flavours long across a twine of dusty chamois tannins. Mid-weighted of feel, immensely versatile and nicely savoury.