ACCOLADES AND AWARDS:

GOLD MEDAL – International Wine Challenge 2015

James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion: 96 (2012)
This is serious stuff, a densely coloured, rich tapestry of blackberry, licorice, oak, tannins and leather. The texture, structure and balance are those of a great wine with a great future.

The Wine Merchant:
“There’s a luxurious softness to this McLaren Vale Shiraz. Its more animal characteristics are cushioned by a smooth, vanilla outer layer and although there are dark savoury flavours bouncing around, it remains supple and fresh. One of the densest things to emerge from Australia since Tony Abbott.”

The Australian Wine Annual 2015 Jeremy Oliver: 92
Elegant and stylish, with a sweet, chocolate-like bouquet of cassis, blackberries and dark plums backed by a faint smokiness and a hint of mocha. Its palate-staining core of deeply ripened dark fruit, fresh oak and fine, pliant tannins extends towards a finely balanced and lingering finish. A charming contemporary McLaren Vale Shiraz.

Weekend West Ray Jordan: 94 POINTS
Such a good vintage and such a good wine to come from it. Dark black fruits with a lift of blueberry. Palate displays mocha and licorice characters, with a decent lick of oak worked into the sumptuously concentrated dark fruit. Powerful with a syrupy delicious flavour profile. Love drinking it young but will cellar for a few years.

The Age Melbourne, Sydney Morning Herald Huon Hooke: 90
A classic regional style, full bodied and rich with ample tannins giving it a pleasant grip. Deep purple-red, with aromas of pepper, black fruits and ironstone minerals. A solid wine with a core of sweet fruit.

The Vinsomniac Stuart Robinson: 93
The inky blackness within is what is first noticed, the aromatics of blue fruit, cherry, chocolate and florals next. Cedary spice and a little toasty oak – it sees 17 months in wood, 35% of which is news. Smooth, lithe and medium-full in body – a surprise at its lightnight, for a ‘Woodhenge’ carries a certain, expectation perhaps, of a weighty wine – with blueberry, black fruit and cherry. There’s latent spice, a touch of fruitcake, and cedar rounding out the palate. Tannin is fine, wrapping up a wine of substance, persistence. Will go well in the cellar too, 8-10 years easily.

Australian Wine Review Andrew Graham: 93
Wirra Wirra’s mid-tier McLaren Vale Shiraz and a nod to the classic style. Good rendition too. I took it to the AFL on Saturday and can confirm that it still looked good out of a thermos – the ultimate test for any full-bodied red. It pours rich, purple/black, the nose full and thick with that resounding Vale tarry black fruit thickness. Promise. The palate too us utterly regional, resplendent in choc bullet, milk chocolate and tarry fruits. Its mid weight and tending more towards fruit rather than structural expanse, the oak cleverly enfolded in to what is a concentrated red of weight, just needing a little more length to be a star. Enjoyable Vale red of some style and unquestioned deliciousness.

Frost on the Vine, Courier Mail Mike Frost: 94
Made to reflect the best properties of McLaren Vale shiraz, this shows ripe blackberry fruit, dark chocolate and spicy oak on the nose and palate, with fine, firm tannins on the finish. While its unashamedly big and rich, it is well balanced and should cellar well for up to a decade. Meanwhile, you could try it with a sirloin steak or roast beef.

The Wine Front Campbell Mattinson: 91+ POINTS
The guts brings the glory. This is all coal and dark olive, tar and blackberry fruit flavour with a warming, slightly brandied finish. Freshness isn’t its strong point but concentration of flavour sure is. Leather, brine and beefstock notes are also present here. Tannin is the clear sighter to the future here: firm, fingers outstretched, reaching out through the finish…