Red Wine

Reviews of the 2022 Shiraz:

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."

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." 91 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." 90 points

Reviews of the 2022 Carignan:

16.5, Max Allen, Jancis Robinson, October 2023:
"Vines planted in 2013, last red variety to be harvested in 2022, made in two batches– one free-run juice, lighter, fruitier; the other whole-berry, crushed, pressings added back, more structural – then blended for 6 months’ maturation in older puncheons. Enticing, black fruit, good vinosity, fine and focused. Keeps Carignan’s earthiness, growly tannins and gaminess as background notes, brings the delicious fruitiness into the foreground.”

91 points, James Halliday Companion, Ned Goodwin MW:
"This is good. Perhaps the most convincing red of the suite, particularly in light of a variety endowed with astringent mettle and inherently high acidity. Placated, toned and let loose with what feels like gentle extraction and the right sort of oak treatment. Red pastille, kirsch, bergamot and a herbal tannic twine directing the fray. Mid-weighted, fresh, intense of flavour and yet light on its feet. Immensely versatile at the table. Easy drinking.”

92 points, The Wine Front:
"I do enjoy Carignan, especially from creaking old vines, though this offering from a vineyard planted in 2014 shows a fresher face, but still has excellent varietal character. Red and blue fruits, a little ironstone and scrub herb perfume, even some choc-liquorice. It’s medium-bodied, gently saline and savoury, light grip of tannin, good freshness and perfume, and offers a chewy finish of solid length, with a bit of amaro/orange peel trailing. Lots of character, and good to drink. Like it."

Reviews of the 2021 Carignan:

90 points, MaryAnn Worobiec, Wine Spectator, December 2023:
"This has a wonderful energy to the core of red fruit flavors, including wild strawberry, cranberry and maraschino cherry. Reveals hints of clove-heavy chai tea that are supple, juicy and plush on the long finish. Drink now."

92 points, James Halliday Companion, Ned Goodwin MW:
"Grapes like this excite me. They are torrid and equipped with natural astringency and bright acidity, something that most traditional grapes in these parts lack. And? The wines have tension, detail and the savoury sort of lattice between fruit and finish that is required for a second glass. This is handled orchestrally. Red fruits, thyme, rosemary and scrub. A deft approach to gentle extraction that renders character without carignan's facility for hardness. Simple. Perhaps. But a tattoo of crushable drinkability reads 'thrills with a chill'."

Reviews of the 2020 Carignan:

92 points, James Suckling 2021, Nick Stock:
"Such attractive, brambly raspberry and blackberry aromas here with a flurry of wild herbs, too. So fresh. The palate has vibrant red-berry flavors that sit lively, framed in bright, easy tannins. Very drinkable now. "

91 points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin:
"I can't think of many varieties better suited to the dry Mediterranean climate of McLaren Vale. Able to withstand torrid conditions while embedding its wines with a wiry cage of tannin and bright acidity, carignan is one of many tickets into the future. This producer champions plenty of others. A partial wild fermentation and short élevage in older French wood intuits promise: cherry pith, thyme, mint, liquorice. The tannins, as expected. Thrills with a chill."

Reviews of the 2019 Carignan:

91 points, The Real Review, Huon Hooke:
"Bright, medium to deep red/purple colour. The nose is savoury, earthy as well as plummy, dark fruits driving the wine. A hint of pepper. Medium to full-bodied, abundant tannins which are powdery and supple. Some chocolate. Good drinking already and will take some age."

91 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front:
"Vibrant, forest berry fruitiness, sprigs of green herb, minty notes, peppery stuff. Palate is light and lithe, sizzles with tart acidity in a good way, shows a feathery lick of earthy tannin. Spice, cranberry, kind of transparent, exotic things, it’s interesting and good. I like it. A bit amaro?"

91 points, James Suckling:
"This has red-flower and leafy aromas, as well as some earthy nuances. Vibrant raspberries and tart red cherries. Succulent appealingly fresh raspberries and redcurrants on the palate with fine, crisp tannins."

Reviews of the 2021 Grenache Touriga:

16.5/20, Jancis Robinson, September 2023: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/tastings/268754

"Beautifully fragrant, the natural spicy, floral qualities of both varieties complementing and enhancing each other; crunchy red berries on the tongue, more spice, vibrant and savoury, with a touch of sour dark-cherry pip on the finish." (MA)

92 points, Wine Advocate 2022, Erin Larkin:
"The Touriga imbues this 2021 Grenache Touriga blend with a backbone, a deep well of concentrated fruit and layers of firm tannins. The Grenache swims through all of it, leaving a trail of raspberries and peppercorns in its wake. Lovely wine. Great stuff here.Vibrant."

90 points, Halliday Companion 2022, Ned Goodwin MW:

"The touch here, more refined with this vintage. Nice drinking. Grenache's pinosité playing rhythm to T aromatic and peppery vibrato. The wine just needs a juicier chord across the mid-palate. Rose petal, lilac, smattered Mediterranean herb and cherry soda. Energetic and effusive of flavour. A prosaic, eminently drinkable wine destined for the fridge."

92 points, James Suckling 2022; Nick Stock:
"This blend sees the sheen of touriga elevate grenache and also twist it a shade darker. More blue and purple fruit than red seen here, and there's a very handy sense of concentration and purity. Gentle layer of liquorice to close. Drink now. Screw cap."

Reviews of the 2020 Grenache Touriga:

92 points, Halliday Companion 2022; Ned Goodwin MW:
"A vibrant, floral and full-weighted red with a skein of peppery freshness and frisky tannins that belie the weight; more savoury and mid weighted as a result. Black cherry, cinnamon, violet, purple gummy bears and sassafras. There's a smoky riff across the back end, but it fails to detract from the freshness, drinkability and imminent appeal."

91 points, James Suckling 2020, Nick Stock:
"A complex and youthful blend, this shows aromas of blue fruit and flowers with red berries and cassis, too. Seamless. The palate is bright and dynamic, with a smooth build. Layered, with supportive, crunchy acidity."

91 points, The Real Review, Huon Hooke:
"Medium-depth of purple/red colour, fresh and bright. The aromas are fresh and fruit driven: red cherry and raspberry, while the palate is medium-bodied at most and pleasantly intense with good drying tannins balancing the fruit. A delicious juicy-fruit style, made to enjoy young, but I’m sure it will also age well."

Reviews of the 2019 Grenache Touriga:

95 points, Jane Faulkner, 2021 James Halliday Wine Companion:
"What appeals is how the fruit does the talking. Winemaking merely the guide. Made in a fresh, drink now style yet with some depth and shape thanks to its grainy tannins and savoury overlay. Delicious."

90 points, James Suckling:
"Attractive raspberry and papaya aromas here with red plums and blackcurrants. The palate has crisp, chalky texture and fresh red-berry and red-papaya flavors. Juicy-fruit finish."

90 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front:
"Bright and vivacious style, feels fresh, berry fruited, pretty and decidedly sweet. Sweetness sticks in the craw a bit but you get the feeling this bottle won’t last long around the right crowd. A neat chomp of gummy tannin does good for some balance, too. Fun!" 

Reviews of the 2018 Grenache Touriga:

93 points, James Halliday 2020 Wine Companion:
"The fancy of freshness. Raspberry, spice, strawberry pie and anise notes fly attractively through the palate, charming as they go. It's a 55/45% blend; it saw no new oak (40% was kept in stainless); the flavours and scents burst merrily from the glass. It's a lovely wine. Serious quality, fun style."

2019 Drink Easy Competition:
"Ripe, plush plums, cherries - fat juicy summer red fruits. The acidity is here and strong but flexible tannins keep it fresh as. Delicious drinking."