CARIGNAN & TOURIGA SALE DOZEN

Reviews of the 2022 Carignan:

91 points, Angus Hughson, Vinous.com, April 2025:
The relatively rare 2022 Carignan has a delicious approachability bursting with blackberry, mulberry and sweet red cherry aromas, with a touch of musky plum skin. The good times continue with fleshy flavors, zippy acidity and just enough tannins to keep its streamlined shape over a generous finish. The 2022 is a fun Carignan that is hard to put down. Drinking window: 2024-2027.

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 2022 Touriga:

Young Gun of Wine, Australia's Best Touriga Nacional, August 2026: 
Touriga is so much more than a generic ‘dry red wine’ variety, particularly when it has seen some time in the bottle. Rich intense spice and a slightly fortified aroma lead into a nicely medicinal, Ribena-infused palate. The spice leaning dark plum, blood orange and blueberries slot together with the herbal undertones and slight liquorice and sit well with the ripe tannin. A lovely example that shows there is so much complexity and variation in the Australian take on Touriga Nacional.

Reviews of 2020 Touriga:

93 points, Mike Bennie, Winefront:
McLaren Vale Touriga on blast. Highly perfumed, all forest berries, sarsaparilla, liquorice, mint and sage characters. Glossy textured, soft and supple, sweet fruited but tempered with crisp, tangy fresh acidity and some creamy, soft tannins lending length and a lovely, puckering finish. Seriously good times, lots of structure and depth yet vitality. Great stuff.

91 points, Ned Goodwin, Halliday Companion 2022:
A bright, mid-weighted, crunchy and slightly sweet red. Touriga, inherently high in acidity, serving to tone flavours of violet, sweet cherry, anise and a sachet of herb. The finish, long and vibrant.

Reviews of 2019 Touriga:

95 points, Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show:
Vibrant, clean & juby pure fruit with a soft long violet finish

93 points, Mike Bennie, Wine Business Magazine:
Straight up, great drinking. Charisma and charm, cola and sour-sweet berry characters, pomegranate juice, cardamom & a hustle of minty herbs. It feels medium weight, slippery but finishes with a smudge of tannins. It's charming from hello, and distinct in its personality. It's got a lot going for it, no doubt.

Reviews of 2018 Touriga:

93 points, Gourmet Traveller Wine - 100 Top New Release Wine:
You can smell and taste Portugal here, the same notes that come through in Portuguese vintage Port, although not porty in the overripe sense. Black cherry, aniseed; beautifully made and fresh; the palate full bodied and firmly structured, powerful and long-lasting.

93 points, Huon Hooke - The Real Review:
Deep, bold, bright purple/red colour, with a lovely sweet black cherry bouquet that smacks of Portuguese port, although it's not 'porty' as such. It's the fruit character, which is very authentic. The wine is full-bodied and firmly-structured, powerful and long-lasting on the palate. A really smart red wine with a bright future.

91 points, Gary Walsh - The Wine Front:
Violet, lavender, chamomile – so floral – also new leather, Christmas cake, blueberry. It’s juicy and plump, plenty of dark fruit and peel, dark chocolate, freshness with sinewy tannin, and a chalky finish of solid length. A lot of interest and pleasure in the glass here.

Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show - Silver Medal: "Bright red garnet, a little ripe floral lavender notes on the nose, the palate is soft and even tempered, lovely lines and spice. Vibrant and juicy.

92 points, James Halliday 2020 Wine Companion:
Dry red style with leather and red cherry flavours doused lightly with dusty dried herbs and spices. There's just enough firmness to the tannin and a good level of ripeness to the fruit. Its a wine of a confident producer.

Reviews of 2017 Touriga:

Andrew Graham, Australian Wine Review, May 2018,:
Please, more McLaren Vale Touriga. This is the first crop off Malcolm & Richard Leask’s Touriga plantings and it’s a winner, with bright, gummy bear purple fruit and a just a hint of soil. It’s so vital! Great fine tannins too. Every time I try these well balanced, energetic fruity Touriga Nacional styles I’m reminded how good they are. Delicious, fruity wine. It’s not wildly serious but an enjoyable drink with acidity, tannins and flavour. Best drinking: Now to seven years. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13.2%, $27. Would I buy it? Sure would.