Reviews of 2023 Nero d’Avola:
91 Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, February 2024:
"Whole berry open ferment, pressed to old oak and matured for 11 months. This has the familiar pop of fresh nero fruit, with smashed dark cherry, raspberry and a cooler fruited cranberry note, along with hardy herbs, Earl Grey tea and dusty spices. It’s nimble and fresh, grounded by resolved plum skin tannins and trademark acidity. It’s a very fine expression.”
Reviews of 2022 Nero d'Avola:
90 points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review, January 2024:
"
Purple-red colour of great clarity. A nose of stewed plums, dried herbs, licorice strap and new leather has a definite Italian accent, and the palate is ripe to taste while retaining appealing savouriness. Tannins are very fine, dry, and exactly appropriate to the style."
16/20, Max Allen, Jancis Robinson, October 2023:
"This has been a consistent award-winner for H&Y and is one of the wines that really led the charge for Nero in the Vale. Cold-soaked (to embolden colour and fruit),ambient-yeast fermented, a year in older puncheons. Really a benchmark example of the plush, ‘wall-of-sound’, McLaren Vale Nerostyle, with loads of black, purple fruit and a big wash of supple tannin flooding the mouth."
94 points, Winepilot, August 2023: https://winepilot.com/story/hither-yon/
"N
ero d’Avola is at home in Sicily but it has well and truly been embraced by Australia, too, being one of the most widely planted “alternative red varieties” here. The first thing I noticed was the supremely ripe fruit, which came across like those squishy raspberry lollies that I could eat a truckload of. There’s an abundance of other fruit here (blackberry, strawberry, red cherry), some black pepper spiciness, and some violet prettiness. It has a real presence in the mouth, full bodied and concentrated, and the palate overall is just glorious. A thoroughly enjoyable wine.
Reviews of 2021 Nero d'Avola
89 points, MaryAnn Worobiec, Wine Spectator, December 2023:
"Crisp, vibrant blackberry, raspberry puree and black pepper notes show accents of Earl Grey tea, with a firming accent on the finish, courtesy of loamy earth e. Drink now."
91 points, James Suckling, April 2023:
"Blackberries, blackcurrants, bay leaves and hints of hazelnuts here. Creamy and medium-bodied with ripe tennis and a fruity, balances and juicy finish. Drink now."
Reviews of 2020 Nero d'Avola
93 points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin:
"Handpicked, destemmed and crushed, with 50% whole berries kept intact. Fermented wild in an open-top concrete fermenter after a three-day cold-soak. 12 mths. in used French wood. A very warm year, this mid-weighted wine still manages verve, nero's dusty pliancy and easy drinkability quotient. Raspberry, lilac, bergamot, blue fruit aspersions, anise and thyme. A succulent swigger best served cool."
93 points, James Suckling 2021, Nick Stock:
"Impressive vintage here, this has a very fresh red-plum, raspberry, herb and leaf nose. So youthful and vivid. The palate holds good tone and depth. So much red-berry and plum fruit here. Drink over the next four years."
Reviews of 2019 Nero d'Avola
~ Best McLaren Vale Wine - Crowned "The Bushing Monarch" in 2019 ~
91 points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin:
"50% whole berries in the ferment. Extracted sensitively, before being transferred to used French oak. Despite the relentless heat and ensuing challenges, this has turned out well. Pulpy texture and vibrant aroma. Lilac, root spice, black cherry and anise. A sassy, easygoing mid-weight wine with a sash of dusty tannin."
91 points, The Real Review, Huon Hooke:
"Deepish purple/red colour. Aromas are of dried herbs, fresh earth and dusty roads, the taste is rich and ripely fruit-sweet at the centre, medium to full in body, with abundant tanins following up, which have the right level of grip. A hint of raspberry jam later. It's not especially complex but is certainly delicious."
Reviews of 2018 Nero d'Avola
2019 MGA McLaren Vale Wine Show:
Trophy: Best McLaren Vale Wine - "The Bushing Monarch"
Trophy: Best Mediterranean Variety Red Wine
2020 International Sydney Wine Competition:
Trophy winner for Best Full Bodied Dry Red Table Wine
Blue-Gold Award (tasted with food) and one of the Top 100 Wines of the Competition.
95 points, James Halliday Wine Companion, August 2021:
"At the upper end of the scale for Nero d'Avola. It's varietal, and certain to burst into song with appropriate Italian cuisine."
Reviews of 2017 Nero d'Avola:
James Halliday, 01 August 2018, www.winecompanion.com.au
"Bright crimson-purple hue; juicy blood plums are the driver of the wine, but with good tannins structure and an attractive savoury nip to the fruit. Three trophies, including Best Wine of Show, Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show '17." 95 points
Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, June 2017, http://www.winefront.com.au
"There’s exuberance and enthusiasm around Hither & Yon, and they’re making a lot of very good, easy to like, personality-filled wines. Plenty of different grape varieties, blends and general vitality in their set. Nero d’Avola here built for pleasure and speed.
Sloshy, fun little drink but has a touch of class amongst its boardshorts and sandals vibe. Shows up with currant and cherry scents, a touch of sea spray and salt bush, a dash of pepper for good measure. Flavours are sour-cherry, lightly malty, a touch cherry cola-esque and fresh, vibrant, crisp in feel. Slips down without a snag, a supple but bright splash of medium weight juice. My brain went to pizza straight away, the lowbrow but delicious American, topping-laden kind with heretical pineapple or twelve toppings. Yum."
Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show, November 2017
Trophy: Best Wine of Show
Trophy: Best Red Wine of Show
Trophy: Best Nero d'Avola
Gold Medal
Max Allen, Australian Financial Review, 23rd November 2017, www.afr.com
"This is a bloody ripper of a young red. No wonder it won three trophies (including best of show) at this year's AAVWS. It has a gorgeous saturated colour, heaps of voluptuous, seductive berry fruit, supple grippy tannins crying our for some garlicky charcoal-grilled lamb, and a lovely vibrant freshness about it, despite the 14.5% alcohol. Moreish. Delicious. Goes on sale soon at the Hither & Yon cellar door."
Adelaide Review, Hot 100 Wines 2017/2018, https://www.adelaidereview.com.au/tag/hot-100-wines-2017-18/
Fruit Forward Reds; "Uber-fragrant and lithe. Whisk this one off to a picnic and enjoy on a super fancy rug."
Reviews of 2016 Nero d'Avola:
Gold Medal at the CWSA 2017, http://www.cwsa.org
Andrew Graham, Australian Wine Review, April 2018, https://www.ozwinereview.com
"A vibrant Nero from Hither & Yon. A grape with real promise in the warmer parts of the Vale.
Lovely raspberry and red currant nose – a cavalcade of black and red berries. Sandy tannins, black licorice and dark fruit that dances on the right side of ripeness. This is what Nero should taste like – grippy tannins. black fruit, a hint of dried leaves, lots of flavour. Really good and all for 13% alcohol. Best drinking: Now to five years plus. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13%, $30."
Reviews of 2015 Nero d'Avola:
Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show, November 2015.
Trophy: Best Red Wine of Show.
Trophy: Best Italian Red Variety.
Trophy: Best Nero d'Avola.
Gold Medal.
August 2016. James Halliday - Wine Companion. 90 Points www.winecompanion.com.au
"Attractive juicy red berry flavours; the wine doesn't need any oak amelioration; good length."
Huon Hooke, March 2016. www.huonhooke.com
"Deep purple/red colour, very bright and youthful. It's very grapy: sweet-fruited and raspberry-like to taste, fresh and bright and clean. A straightforward, fresh, primary fruit-driven style without much complexity or secondary characters."
Stuart Robinson, January 2016. www.vinsomniac.com
"The brand and wines out of the portfolio remain some of the most consistent, drinkable and exciting out of the region. Jubey, black fruited, juicy, heavenly, intoxicating, alluring. The barest hint of licorice, fennel, touch of grilled linguica, more about black fruit. Medium bodied, easy going, straddles a line of sweet black fruit with some Italianate seasoning."
Gary Walsh, October 2015, The Wine Front www.winefront.com.au
"Great packaging on all these Hither & Yon wines. Honey nougat, raspberry, some spice and flowers, char-grilled sausage, and that metallic thing Nero often has going on. Medium bodied, talks pretty sweet, but tastes almost dry when the light sandy tannin and herbal seasoning bring it back into line. Not a very deep wine, as such, but interesting and good to drink."
Reviews of 2014 Nero d'Avola:
Trophy for 'Best Italian Red Wine'. Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show, Nov 2014.
92 points. Mike Bennie. April 2015. www.wbmonline.com.au
"Lots to like about this Nero d'Avola. Its juicy, fresh, lightly spiced and set to the bold sweetness of red fruits without strying into the jammy zone. It opens up with pretty floral, rose petal and spice scents, with a good dose of wild raspberry fruit alongside. Has some restraint and seriousness about it."
Walter Speller. Feb 2015. www.jancisrobinson.com
"Sweet leafy raspberry fruit and very clean on the nose. The leafiness is quite distinct and makes the impression of young vines, but this has a good fruit expression on the palate with soft drying tannins and integrated but matching acidity. Promising. (WS) 13.8%"
91 points. Stuart Robinson. Dec 2014. www.thevinsomniac.com
"Nero lives up to its name here, with an inky darkness emanating from the glass. Red and black fruits and something - I wrote at the time - like hanging your head over a pan of sizzling pork and fennel snags. Delightful herbal and spice notes too. Plump entry - cushioned and soft on the tongue - depth and spice kick-in, a fine rub of tannin. More licorice and fennel seed spice mops up at the back. So delicious, so moreish. Grand drinking for something that can be had for a shade over 20 beans."
91 points. Gary Walsh. Nov 2014. www.winefront.com.au
"Plenty of Nero character. Bursting with ripe dark berries, raw almonds, fragnant and sweet dried herbs with a handful of black jelly beans tossed in for good measure. Medium bodied, fleshy and ripe, with well rounded tannin and almost a gummy feel in the mouth - certainly good to chew and swirl round - bright jubey fruit flavours, savoury dried herbs and glorious food friendly tannin mops up the finish. Super drinking here. Can't recommend it highly enough."