Products

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 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 Shiraz:

90 points, Shanteh Wale, South Australian Wine Guide 2026, November 2025:
Fruit is from four separate blocks in the Eastern Foothills of McLaren Vale. The elevation brings with it a blue-tinged aroma, bilberry and blackcurrants. Butterfly pea flowers and poppyseed. Its bright lines of acidity and some chewy tannins keep the wine lively. There is a pocket in the middle palate filled with black sesame; it stands out for its unique flavours and shape. Drink now-2028.

*Red Star Value. 93 Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, September 2025:
In the mix of future-proofing varieties, McLaren Vale’s most planted grape – and by a significant margin – is shining ever brighter at this address. No imperious flagship bottlings here; more taking the moderately weighted food-friendly angle, as with their climate-champion grapes. Tart boysenberry, black cherry, violet, Earl Grey tea. It’s got some pep from the cool year, finishing energetically. It’s a delicious iteration.

90 points, Campbell Mattinson, September 2025:
This is fresh, fruity and well balanced. It offers plum and red cherry flavours with subtle infusions of toast, chicory and smoked herbs. It’s not a big wine but nor is it underdone; it walks an attractive, well-fruited line, and is a good red wine to drink as a result.

Reviews of the 2022 Shiraz:

91 points, James Suckling, December 2024:
Black cherries, black beans and roasted herbs on the nose, followed by a full-bodied, fleshy and fine-tannined palate. I like the savory herb undertones to the black fruit. Drink now. Screw cap.

*Red Star Value. 93 Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, June 2024:
From the brothers Leask, who largely specialise in climate-apt grapes, this is compelling value from an old-school hero variety. It's the right balance of juicy and savoury, with black cherries, blackberry, spiced plum, white pepper, leather, anise, rocky iron notes and hardy herbs, the palate silky, underwritten by finely tuned tannins, guiding but not interrupting the flow. Very nice indeed. *Red Star Value.

90 Points, The Real Review, January 2024:
Youthful in the glass. Aromas of dark fruits, spice, dried herbs, graphite and a whiff of eucalyptus. Full flavoured, chewy and dark fruited. Plum, mulberry, spice and cedar are all at play and the tannins are firm and savory.

94 Points, The Vintage Journal Summer Wine Guide 2023:
Medium-deep crimson. Fresh blackcurrant, blackberry aromas with hints of marzipan and spice. Inky deep and sinuous with plentiful dark berry fruits, marzipan, hint ginger notes, fine al dente tannins, very good mid-palate volume and fresh long mineral notes.

Reviews of the 2021 Shiraz:

92 Points, Angus Hughson, Vinous, February 2023:
The 2021 Shiraz is a hearty expression from McLaren Vale, delivering good levels of flavor and complexity. There is an attractive impact of new leather and blackberry aromas with a nice dose of ironstone. Fleshy mulberry and olive tapenade flavors follow with satisfying density and ripe tannins on the finish.

92 Points, Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal, December 2022:
Medium deep crimson. Bush garrigue, red cherry, red liquorice, roasted walnut aromas. Supple cherry pastille, cranberry fruits, fine chalky, al dente textures and underlying roasted complexity. Drink now, keep for a while.

91 Points, Ned Goodwin MW, 2022 James Halliday Wine Companion:
Picked across a number of parcels for a panoply of varying textures and flavour profiles. Scents of dark cherry, tea tree, mint and green peppercorn. Iodine and a swab of tapenade, too. This is good drinking for the money. Flavour, poise and refreshment in spades, with a lithe tannin profile tucking in the seams for savouriness over fruit.

90 Points, Wine Advocate 2022, Erin Larkin:
This 2021 McLaren Vale Shiraz is juicy, buoyant, pure, bright and delicious. It is exactly (and I mean EXACTLY) what you look for when picking up a value Shiraz. This is a cracking little wine. It's not complex - and I'd drink it young—but it is layered with all the minerals and bouncy fruits you could want, and then some.

Reviews of the 2020 Shiraz:

93 Points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin:
This is very good regional Shiraz, implementing a controlled chord of reduction to constrain lilac, cracked pepper, clove, charcuterie and blue-fruit accents. Fine tension. Compelling length. The lushness of the Vale iterated almost as a cooler-climatic expression. Fine-boned tannins and savoury spice inflections. Versatile at the table.

91 points, James Suckling:
"Attractive blackcurrant aromas and hints of leaves. There's a real blue-fruit edge to this shiraz. The palate has quite a brisk, assertive feel with smoothly delivered blueberry and blackcurrant flavors."

Reviews of previous vintages:

95 points, James Halliday 2020 Wine Companion:
Oh come all ye faithful lovers of McLaren Vale shiraz. It's hard to say whether the variety or the region is the most important - and true - contributor to the depth and outright richness of this Shiraz. The tannins also ring true to the theme, leaving no doubt about its longevity.

93 points, James Halliday 2019 Wine Companion:
It delivers a solid whack of dark berried flavour. This is a sure-footed wine, well-balanced and finished, with fluid delivery of coffee cream, blackberry, plum and choc-mint flavours. From start to finish, it keeps you satisfied.

91 Points, Gary Walsh, June 2017, The Wine Front www.winefront.com.au:
Blackberry, smoky grilled meat sprinkled with pepper, a bit of purple flowers or something like that. Medium bodied, flavoursome, almost slurpy, but a bit more in it than that, with light tannin, spice and dark fruits, and a tidy finish. Lovely wine, drinking very well young. Doing a good job of it here.

90 Points, Huon Hooke, March 2017, www.huonhooke.com:
Deep red/purple colour and a ripe, concentrated, deep-fruited aroma and palate flavour. The texture is soft and easygoing. Peppery blackberry and dark plum aromas. Concentrated, rich, soft and rounded. A very smart shiraz for one so young.