SHIRAZ
Here's what Mal & Richard say about it:
"The individual parcels really work in harmony, we see real vineyard character in the wine, blueberry and mulberry, chocolate and French oak, fruit and earth feeling opens beautifully in the glass."
Reviews of the 2022 Shiraz:
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
