Halliday Wine Companion (94)

Deeply coloured, yet bright; a complex bouquet of black fruits, licorice, spice and cedary oak, then a very powerful palate enriched by 24 months in French oak. From ancient vines and, against all the odds, carries its alcohol well.

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2018 Gregor Shiraz was partially dried prior to crushing and fermentation, so it packs considerable concentration and power, weighing in at 15.8% alcohol on the label. It's a blockbuster in every sense of the word, from its huge aromas of mint, blueberries and plums to the mind-bending intensity on the full-bodied palate. Although not as raisined or alcoholic as Dal Forno's Amarone, there are similarities in size and structure, with waves of velvety, super ripe fruit and dark chocolate bolstered by softly dusty tannins and mouthwatering acidity on a finish that must be tasted to be believed. Wow!

Wine Advocate (99)

Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard simply sings of potpourri, spice cake and rose hip tea with menthol, tilled soil, tobacco and earth plus a waft of crushed stones. The full-bodied palate is fantastically dense and beautifully perfumed with lovely freshness and super fine-grained tannins, finishing very, very long.

Wine Advocate (99)

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan Vineyard Deep Time spent 48 months in barrel, which is amazing when you consider how vibrant it is. Medium garnet colored, it hits the ground running with bright, expressive scents of raspberry coulis, blackcurrant cordial, baked plums and Morello cherries giving way to a beguiling perfume of potpourri, new leather, cloves and unsmoked cigars plus wafts of sassafras and pencil lead. The generously fruited, full-bodied palate ups the game with exotic spice fireworks among the rich, opulent fruit, supported by firm, tight-grained tannins and bold freshness, finishing very long.

Vinous (95)

The 2015 Belle Cousine is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from Hyde Vineyard. Dark, pliant and super-expressive, the 2015 is endowed with striking purity and nuance. All the elements are impeccably balanced in this pristine, beautiful wine. Bright red fruit, spice, cedar and floral notes meld together in a silky, captivating wine from Hyde De Villaine. The 2015 is a stunner. That's all there is to it.

Jeb Dunnuck (94)

The base cuvée is the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec sourced all from Rutherford. It has a classic, Saint Julien-like bouquet of crème de cassis, tobacco lead, damp earth, and spice that gives way to a full-bodied, concentrated, textured Cabernet that hits all the right marks. The top Rubicon release has a touch more elegant and precision, but this isn't far off. Drink this stunner any time over the coming 20 years or more.

Wine Advocate (85)

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2012 Johann Shiraz Cabernet has an open, expressive cassis and blackberry tart scented nose with a cedary background and hints of baker's chocolate and yeast extract. The oak slightly overshadows the relatively elegant, medium-bodied fruit core, finishing with chewy tannins and lingering wood flavors. It would actually be an impressive wine were it not for the clumsy oak usage.

Wine Advocate (98+)

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2012 Shiraz The Armagh offers a gorgeous perfume of baking spices, violets, Sichuan pepper and fragrant earth. More earthy and savory in the mouth than on the nose, the palate is superbly structured and taut—built for the long-haul—with a long, complex finish. Still very youthfully, forget this wine for 3-5 more years and consider drinking it over the next 20+.

Halliday Wine Companion (97)

Made from centenarian vines in Light Pass, matured for 15 months in used French oak. This is a glorious manifestation of the '17 vintage, its cool conditions retaining freshness of fruit at a very modest alcohol level. A sheer pleasure to drink.

Halliday Wine Companion (98)

Eligo is made from the best parcels of the vintage, fermented with submerged caps in small open fermenters, matured for 20 months in French hogsheads (50% new). The tannins and oak are built into the wine like an inlaid checkerboard table created by a master craftsman with decades of experience. Like John Duval.

Halliday Wine Companion (97)

John Duval is a master blender. This is all about the best of the vintage, fruit from various sites across the and Eden Barossa Valleys, to morph into the mighty Eligo. A powerhouse of flavour yet never loses focus. Dark plums infused with star anise, cinnamon, Dutch licorice and soy sauce. Full-bodied with velvety rich tannins. It gets the most oak - French hogsheads 54% new, aged 18 months, and needs time to settle in. It will.

Halliday Wine Companion (97)

Fermentation with submerged cap; up to two weeks on skins, then matured for 18 months in French hogsheads (55% new). Opaque purple; incredible depths to the velvety black fruits that run on oiled stainless steel rails, making it impossible to deny

Halliday Wine Companion (99)

From old vines in five districts, fermented with submerged cap, matured in French hogsheads (32% new) for 15 months. Complex and rich from the first whiff through to the aftertaste, not wasting a single berry in this great vintage. So much power, such elegance.

Halliday Wine Companion (98)

A full-bodied wine of ultimate coherence and quality, the bouquet setting the signal for the palate to follow. Attention to detail is obvious, especially the handling of tannins and oak. The integration of these components with the blackcurrant fruit is faultless.

The Vintage Journal (98)

Deep crimson. Complex blackcurrant, blackberry, praline, roasted chestnut mocha, marzipan notes. Richly flavoured, round and smooth with beautiful pure blackcurrant, blackberry mocha espresso flavours, fine loose-knit grainy tannins and underlying roasted chestnut, toffee notes. Finishes chocolaty and long with a long life ahead.

James Suckling (95)

Very aromatic with blueberries and blackcurrants, as well as red licorice. Floral, too. Medium-to full-bodied, firm and lightly chewy. Lovely depth of fruit here. Rich and flavorful. Extremely well done for the vintage. Shows more finesse and tightness than 2016. Very classic. One-third of the production. Try it. Drink after 2022, but already delicious.

Wine Advocate (98+)

The 2013 Insignia (their 40th vintage) is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, and the rest Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. This wine is aged 24 months in 100% new French oak barrels, and the production can vary from just over 10,000 cases to nearly 20,000 cases in a very abundant vintage. There were 12,300 cases produced in 2013, and this vintage of Insignia is certainly going to turn out to be one of the great ones. The wine offers a stunning inky blue/purple color, a gorgeous nose of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, pen ink, graphite, new saddle leather and barrique. The wine has fabulous concentration, a full-bodied, multi-layered mouthfeel, and tremendous finish with moderate tannin. It’s interesting to note that the Phelps winemaking staff had been gradually reducing the amount of Merlot in this wine over recent vintages. The 2013 should hit its peak in 5-7 years and last for 35-50.

Wine Advocate (95+)

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2013 Alte Reben Shiraz is opening out into a bold, pure, pepper and licorice-laced nose over a core of black cherries and crushed blueberries with a touch of dried herbs. Full, rich and yet with plenty of freshness, this is a wine with great concentration, nice ripe tannins and a tantalizing finish. Yum!

Wine Advocate (95)

Kaesler’s icon cuvee is their Shiraz Old Bastard, produced from a single vineyard planted in 1896, and aged 22 months in 100% new French oak. The 2004 is a big yet remarkably elegant, deep purple-colored Shiraz offering notes of blueberries, black raspberries, and toasty oak, a superb texture, admirable richness, and a long, heady finish. There is plenty of tannin lurking beneath the cascade of fruit, glycerin, and extract. While accessible, it is too young to drink at present, and is meant to keep for 2-3 decades. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025+.

Vinous (96)

Dark purple. Powerful, smoke- and spice-accented aromas of dark fruit preserves, vanilla, incense and violet. Alluringly sweet and broad on the palate, offering deeply concentrated blueberry, cassis, floral pastille and vanilla flavors plus suggestions of five-spice powder and cola. The floral quality repeats emphatically on an impressively long, velvety finish that"s framed by smooth, harmonious tannins.

Wine Advocate (94)

Sourced from vines planted in 1899 and 1965, Kaesler's 2015 The Bogan Shiraz aged 15 months in 25% new oak. It's a full-bodied but balanced Shiraz, with big blueberry and blackberry flavors but also savory hints of wood, grilled meat and dried spices. Plush and almost creamy on the palate, it moves easily into a long, velvety finish that picks up hints of plum and licorice. Flattering now, it should still be going strong in a decade or more.

Wine Advocate (97)

The 2005 Shiraz “Attunga 1865” is sourced from ungrafted vines planted in the Clare Valley in 1865. It spent 25 months in 100% new French oak hogsheads and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Opaque purple/black, it reveals an ethereal bouquet of crushed rocks, acacia flowers, espresso, mocha, black cherry, and blackberry. This leads to a powerful, intense, yet elegant wine with a very long, seamless finish. This beautifully balanced effort will excite tasters over the next 25 years. Kilikanoon’s winemaker is the talented Kevin Mitchell. The house specialty is Shiraz but Mitchell does equally well with Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Grenache.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

The 2018 Estate Cuvee checks 45% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot brought up in 90% new French oak. Tasting like the straight Cab, yet with more sex appeal, it offers a huge nose of crème de cassis, white flowers, crushed stone, graphite, and crushed flowers. This carries to a full-bodied, gorgeously textured red with incredible balance, no hard edges, a thrilling mid-palate, and a great, great finish. It's going to benefit from 5-6 years of bottle age and keep for upwards of two decades or more. Hats off to winemaker Stephan Asseo on another incredible wine, as well as, I suspect the wine of the vintage.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

Pure perfection from Paso Robles, the 2019 Estate Cuvee checks in as 50% Syrah, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Petit Verdot that was raised in 81% new French oak. Incredible cassis and black berry fruits as well as violets, chocolate, graphite, and who knows what else emerges from the glass, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a concentrated yet weightless mouthfeel, building tannins, and a great finish. It’s more seamless and approachable than the more backward, structured 2018 and will have two decades of prime drinking.

Vinous (92)

Bright violet. Potent aromas of ripe red and blue fruits, floral pastilles, woodsmoke and minerals develop a spicy nuance in the glass. Sweet and fleshy on the palate, offering intense black raspberry and boysenberry flavors that become livelier with air. The very long, sharply focused finish features supple tannins and subtle, lingering notes of ripe red berries and candied rose.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2019 Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard comes from vines located just one ridge in from the Pacific Ocean and planted in 1995 at 1,200 to 1,500 feet in elevation, Medium ruby in color, it's scented of blood orange, cranberry and rhubarb, with nuances of turned earth, conifer, seaweed and mushrooms. The palate is medium-bodied with an abundance of silty tannins, appealing bursts of acidity, nuanced yet concentrated fruits and a long finish. It deserves at least another 2-3 years in bottle. 318 cases were made.

Wine Advocate (100)

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder is as compelling a Cabernet Sauvignon as one could ever hope to taste. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a high-elevation site boasts an inky/purple color, and smells of ink, blueberry liqueur, blackberries, black raspberries, mulberries, licorice, charcoal and camphor. With magnificent fruit richness, a layered, full-bodied mouthfeel, and incredible length, this seamlessly constructed 2012 should provide immense pleasure for 25+ years. Kudos to winemaker Chris Carpenter as he is clearly at the top of his game.

Experience the pinnacle of fine wine with the Louis M Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Lot No 1 2017. This exquisite masterpiece from the renowned California wine house denotes a craft refined over 85 years and three family generations. The Cabernet Sauvignon Lot No 1 hails from the finest vineyards in Napa Valley, a region synonymous with producing wines of unparalleled quality and depth. This vintage is no exception, offering rich, mouth-filling flavours layered with complex nuances.

Aged in French oak barrels for 26 months, the wine exhibits a seamless, generous texture underpinned by an elegant tannin structure. This opulent Cabernet delightfully expresses dark, concentrated fruit and spices, surrounding a core of intense blackberry and black plum.

The Louis M Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Lot No 1 2017 embodies the precise winemaking pedigree of Louis M. Martini, carrying the legacy of outstanding Californian winemaking into the contemporary era.

A connoisseur's delight, the Love Over Gold Menglers Hill Love Over Gold Shiraz 2014 is the epitome of opulence. This handcrafted, single-vineyard wine hails from the prestigious Menglers Hill, situated within the acclaimed South Australian wine region, Barossa Valley. It is the creation of the renaissance winemaker, Warrick Duthy, the impassioned force behind the boutique wine label, Love Over Gold.

The 2014 vintage encapsulates the vineyard's story with its exceptional purity and intensity. The grapes endured a growing season of dry, warm days and cool evenings, producing a wine enrobed in powerful dark fruit flavours, tempered with refined acidity and structured tannins. Nineteen months in French oak barrels imbued the Shiraz with complex layers of chocolate, vanilla, and spice, making each sip a revelation. The Love Over Gold Menglers Hill Love Over Gold Shiraz 2014 is undeniably an unforgettable imprint of time and place, a testament to the art of winemaking.

Wine Advocate (94)

Mollydooker's 2018 Carnival of Love Shiraz is more red-fruited and structured than I expected, given the wine's stated 16% alcohol. Raspberries and cedar mark the nose, with hints of chocolate, espresso and baking spices. In the mouth, it's full-bodied, dense and powerful, with ripe but firm tannins supporting the bright berry flavors, then easing into a long, velvety and mouthwatering finish. It should drink well for around a decade, but if you're shy of tannins, you may want to wait another year or two before opening.