MIXED SALE DOZEN
From time to time, we release a new vintage of a wine, and then we find a little bit of the previous vintage on a pallet in the back of the shed – actually, this is Mal’s special gift!
Currently, we have a couple of these such wines, 2023 vintages of Tempranillo and Nero d'Avola, and the pleasure is all yours, we are offering these at $200 per dozen until sold out. Two lovely medium bodied, fleshy and spicy wines for spring, fire up the grill plate!
91 Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion, June 2025:
From the home Sand Road vineyard, and a 1.1-ha block planted in 2010 on red alluvial clay with some sandstone; raised in four–five-year-old French puncheons for seven months. This is the reliably fresh face of nero, with forward black cherry and wild raspberry notes, though there’s also savouriness. Alpine herbs, white pepper, anise, and also some cola and black jellybean, but rendered without confection. It’s no more than mid-weight, delightfully fresh and lively through the finish, and a versatile food wine.
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:
Nero 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:
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
- 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
At the upper end of the scale for Nero d'Avola. It's varietal, and certain to burst into song with appropriate Italian cuisine.
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.
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.
- 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:
Fruit Forward Reds; "Uber-fragrant and lithe. Whisk this one off to a picnic and enjoy on a super fancy rug.
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.
- Trophy: Best Red Wine of Show.
- Trophy: Best Italian Red Variety.
- Trophy: Best Nero d'Avola.
- Gold Medal.
Attractive juicy red berry flavours; the wine doesn't need any oak amelioration; good length.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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%.
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.
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.
91 points, James Suckling, December 2024:
Youthful and fresh, this has notes of raspberries, red cherries, white pepper and paprika on the nose, followed by a medium-bodied, lithe and lightly peppery palate. Drink now.
Reviews of the 2021 Tempranillo:
90 points, Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday Companion 2022:
An everyday quaff, suggesting that handling of this early ripening variety is getting better. Bing cherry, iodine, lilac and lavender. The tension is serviced by reduction as much as a verdant lilt and vanillin streak of gentle tannins.
92 points, Nick Stock, James Suckling 2022:
A mid-weight red that has good purtity of blueberry and cherry fruit with a faint floral and white-pepper edge. Holds a sleek and succelent stance in the mouth and delivers a vividly fresh squeeze of tannin through the finish. Drink over the next 3 years. Screw cap.
Reviews of the 2020 Tempranillo:
92 points, Nick Stock, James Suckling 2021:
A wealth of blackcurrant, blueberry and violet florals that are really expressive and sweetly fragrant. The palate has a tautly fitted frame of tannin that carries juicy blue-fruit flavor. Fresh and crisp.
Best in Australian Tempranillo' - Young Gun on Wine:
AThis made the top-six lists of five tasters, with Wren placing it first on his sheet, while Andrew had it just one place back. Forbes, Jones and Infimo also rated it highly. “Cherry cola on the nose coupled with lifted red fruits such as cherries and plums – reminiscent of a summer berry pudding,” wrote Andrew. “The line of acid and tannin provide energy on the palate and carry the vibrant fruit which presents as juicy and moreish on the mid-palate."
Reviews of the 2019 Tempranillo:
92 points, Jane Faulkner, James Halliday Wine Companion, August 2021:
A lot of pizzazz packed into this with its cherry-accented fruit, sarsaparilla and woodsy spices. It's medium-bodied, juicy with firm tannins and a slight green edge on the finish means having this with food.
91 points, James Suckling:
This is a bold, vivacious style with plenty of deep-set blueberries and cassis and a smooth and bright, juicy palate that carries a long band of bright, blue-fruit flavour.
Reviews of the 2018 Tempranillo:
95 points, James Halliday 2020 Wine Companion:
"Full of flavour, texture and life. This is about as full-bodied as tempranillo gets and, even better, it comes dressed in velvet. Plum, black cherry and cola flavours sweep through the palate in convincing fashion. Fine-grained tannin stitches the finish into a neat package. It's good."
92 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front:
(Posted on 09 July 2020) "It would appear we are a little late on this one, as I note, while grabbing a bottle image, that they’re on to the 2019 on their web shop. Oh well. Come hither. Cherry and plum, a little earth, BBQ sausage, and spice. It’s medium-bodied, with pleasingly sooty tannin, ample fruit and balanced acidity, a bit of sweet strawberry freshness in the mix, and a nice long even finish. What a charming wine it is. Speaks of region and grape most eloquently."
2019 Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show - Bronze Medal "Bright red fruit strawberry and fine powdery tannins. Soft juicy and within the frame of the varietal fruit with balanced plushness and fine tannins. Cherry ripe, chocolate. Nice crunch tannins. Exotic flavours reminiscent of an Icelandic picnic."
Reviews of 2017 Tempranillo:
James Halliday, 07 August 2018, www.winecompanion.com.au
"Full, bright hue; red and black cherry on the bouquet lead directly into the palate before savoury tannins try to take a grip on proceedings." 89 points
Mike Bennie, WBM, May/June 2018, 92 points
"A more serious-feeling Tempranillo than expected with concentration and richness on its side. Perfume is appropriately floral, rose hip tea- imbued and shows whiffs of choc- Turkish Delight, while the palate is more mulberry sweetness and a dash of clove/cinnamon spice. Some real glide here too. 14.5%"
Andrew Graham, Australian Wine Review, May 2018, https://www.ozwinereview.com
"Another varietal ‘17 Vale red from Hither & Yon team. Molten, dark berry nose – it’s not Rioja but gee it’s expansive and thick fruited with that southern McLaren Vale inky density. At first I thought this might be too ripe and slick sweet, but the tannic depth and wafts of choc berry carries this forward. A genuinely substantial McLaren Vale Tempranillo. Best drinking: Wait a year or so to see it at its best and drink in 10. 17.5/20, 91/100. 14.5%, $27."
Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show, November 2017:
Gold Medal, 95 points
Reviews of 2016 Tempranillo:
93 points and red value star, James Halliday, August 2018:
Made from two pickings, almost 3 weeks apart. Open fermented, whole berries and bunches, and 6 months in French oak. Unequivocally varietal bouquet, with lifted aromas of fresh cherry, blueberry, and cola extract, spliced with a more savoury element. Fresh, juicy and flavoursome, but moderated by the fine tannin. Delicious.
90 points, Huon Hooke, February 2017:
Deep, young purple/red colour. The wine is full-bodied and fruit-driven on the palate with bold, bright young flavour and soft but persuasive tannins. The wine is very young and primal but very good. Balance and mouth-feel are excellent and it just remains to be seen what some bottle-age might bring.
90 points, Stuart Robinson, www.thevinsomniac.com, December 2016:
"Delicious Joven style: jubey, juicy, fruits of the forest mix. The kinda wine you want to sink your head into: cooling, calming, intriguing, inviting. There's a darker edge to the palate, a light rub of tannin. Medium bodied, a twist of aniseed - lush fruit. Strikes this balance between downright simplicity, with a little dark underbelly. Would easily handle a summer-necessary chill.
2015 Tempranillo reviews:
Mike Bennie. WBM Magazine. May 2016. 93 points.
"This is Tempranillo marching to its own beat. Neither joven nor Riserva, it's a slurpy, slippery, medium weight thing that shows choc-cherry and anise characters in perfume and flavours, lushness of fruit and a lightly sandy finish. It's seriously great drinking and could take a light chill too."
91 points, Wine Enthusiast (USA), March 2016:
Dark cherry in colour with black infections at the core, this wine has a pleasantly vinous nose of pomegranate seeds and blueberries. Sweet spice and perk acidity invigorate the medium bodied palate, while supple rounded tannins hang in the background. The finish lingers with cinnamon-dappled raspberry pie flavors. Even if only moderately complex, this wine is incredibly easy to sip. Drink now through to 2018.
91 points, Stuart Robinson, www.thevinsomniac.com, March 2016:
Savoury, woody hints, flashes of blue fruit, a little black cherry. In the house style: a juicy fruit-bomb, not lacking in a little savoury depth - a second pick of fruit comprising 12% of the wine was allowed a little extra hang-time, with some whole bunch inclusion - a little acidic reach into the corners of the palate. A light rub of tannin, some black licorice and a little bitter cocoa. Juicy, moreish, another winner from the H&Y team.
Huon Hooke, March 2016:
Deep red colour with a trace of purple. Dark cherry fruit pervades the bouquet, becoming chaffy with airing, while the palate is ironstony and firm, straightforward and plum-pippy, ending with a trace of bitterness. A pretty good temp.
88 points, Andrew Graham, March 2016:
Juicy red fruit, wet brick Temp varietal characters, then more raspberry and cola fruit with a little earth. It’s a nice 'joven' style this, all fruit, minimal oak and light sandy tannins. Slurpable, juicy wine, if a tad simple. Best drinking: 2017-2021.
