Calvados, Pinot Meunier, Bitte...
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Jasper Hill Georgias Paddock Shiraz 2023Reminiscent of our wines in the early years, a true Georgia’s Paddock style of raspberry with red earth notes and soft integrated tannins. While this vintage initially appears a little closed, given a few minutes, opens up to a brilliant red fruit and spicy nose. Juicy strawberries and fresh raspberry fill a generous palate with great length. Delicious now but easily cellared for those with patience. High grade cork sealed, 15.0% alcohol. JASPER HILL2023shirazAustralia404$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Tyrrells Vat 8 Shiraz Cabernet 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021shirazAustralia407$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Glaetzer Amon Ra 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2022shirazAustralia349$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Shaw & Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz 2021A scintillating nose of mace, clove, blue-fruit persuasions, lilac, pepper-dried salumi, fennel seed and kelp, akin to nori of the sort found at Tokyo's arsenal of exceptional sushi counters. On the slightly richer side of mid-weighted. Yet, the slippery skein of tannin is so immaculately placed that there is neither heat nor an ounce of sloppy, sweet fruit. Everything is compressed into a polished bone of tension and savory refinement. The acidity is saline and lathered with tapenade. More of a syrah from an external perspective. An irrefutably brilliant one. I wish I had more to cellar, given the wine's noble stature. A ringer for refined Cornas, if not an oxymoron. (97) NED GOODWIN, Jamessuckling.com
A sultry aroma of blackberry, Bing cherries and kombu seaweed. Crushed juniper, clove and allspice meet sandalwood, brown mushroom and pinecones. It’s full of forestry and undergrowth with specks of kalamata olive and hawthorn. Sweetness of spice shines through unpinning the black berried fruit and herbal nuances. Extremely compact and weighty. There is a lot of wine here for the dollar and as per usual it shows off its pedigree with class and sophistication. Tannins are suede like and acidity drives the flavours to the finish line which are way off in the distance. Drink now and will cellar for 5 years. A great wine for slow cooked beef tendon or oxtail. (95) SHANTEH WALE, Wine Pilot
2021shirazAustralia340$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Yann Chave Crozes Hermitage Le Rouvre 2020There's a pleasant little blackcurrant jam note on the nose here. Lightly spiced, medium-bodied, juicy and with very fine tannins, there's a lovely sense of elegance in the wine, with very good acidity. Not as powerful as his cuvée classique, but a greater sense of finesse, balance and drinkability. Long finish. MATT WALLS, decanter.com
The bouquet brims with bright cassis fruit clad for now in smoky oak. The fruit pleases via a lingering coulis-style sweetness. The palate bears rolling richness, a fluid tone to the content, black berry fruits on display, the tannins ripe, layered. This holds good, proven fruit, its clear tenor appealing. From 2023, decant it. 2030-32 July 2021. JONATHON LIVINGSTONE-LEARMONTH, drinkrhone.com
2020shirazFrance467$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Jean Baptiste Souillard Saint Joseph Janoune 2019More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2019shirazFrance467$110.00 As low as $99.00 -
Yeringberg Shiraz 2021Vines planted in 1999. About 6% whole bunch. 30% new oak.
Plum and cherry, cracked pepper, hazelnut, Turkish apricot and musk stick, with a little cedar oak. It’s plum and plummy, a grainy grip to tannin, balanced acidity, nutty with something of a toffee flavour, with a clip of oak on a finish of good length. Still a little elemental, but good. Needs a couple more years of cellaring. GARY WALSH, The Wine Front
2021shirazAustralia506$110.00 As low as $99.00 -
Seville Estate Old Vine Reserve Shiraz 2020From a single site at Seville Estate planted in 1972; 20% whole bunches and matured in seasoned French puncheons. From a cool year, this was picked on the 1st week of April meaning the fruit had plenty of hang time. Just 120 dozen made. A brilliant crimson magenta. Beautifully perfumed and pure. Redolent of raspberry coulis, peony, Asian spices and potpourri. Supremely elegant and structured, there's a gentle meatiness to go with the pure red fruits. The tannins are silky and persistent. Finishes very long and too good to spit! (97) JAMES HALLIDAY'S WINE COMPANION
In some ways this is similar to the Dr McMahon, which makes sense since the fruit source is the same, but it's more lively and unleashes more perfume and fruit. I would go so far as to say it has an almost airy feel to it, aromatically it's quite enticing, plenty of inviting little details that pluck at your senses. The palate eases in to things with ample weight, beautiful texture and pitch perfect tannins. It's long and edges towards vibrant with those cool edged fruit notes, but its dense enough to tell you there is a lot more to come here. What a glorious wine. In a sensational line up of booze this may be my pick of the bunch. ROSCOE
2020shirazAustralia506$110.00 As low as $99.00 -
Alkina Old Quarter GSM 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021Mourvedre, shirazAustralia349$110.00 As low as $99.00 -
Tomfoolery Artful Dodger Shiraz 2019More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2019shirazAustralia349$115.00 As low as $103.50 -
Hentley Farm The Beast Shiraz 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2022shirazAustralia349$120.00 As low as $108.00 -
Eisenstone Becker Vineyard Koonunga Shiraz SV907 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021shirazAustralia349$120.00 As low as $108.00 -
Yann Chave Crozes Hermitage Le Rouvre 2022An amazing Crozes-Hermitage. Very complex nose with notes of candied bitter oranges, mulberries and hot dry earth. Serious concentration for this appellation, plus a stack of fine tannins that exactly balance the finely nuanced forest berries and citrus fruit. Super-long very polished finish. Drink or hold. STUART PIGGOT, jamessuckling.com
Suave, soft, ripe blackberry and blackcurrant. Supple and ripe tannin. Does have a good sense of balance and drinkability, plus a long finish. One of the better 2022 Crozes. MATT WALLS
2022shirazFrance467$120.00 As low as $108.00 -
Yeringberg Shiraz 2022Fruit from vines planted in ’99. A medium crimson purple. A gentle wine in ’22, you’ll find aromas of red and blue fruits together with loads of white pepper, spice and fresh flowers. There’s a little meatiness too, which follows onto the medium-bodied, elegant yet persistent palate. A touch closed at present; this will open up and become more perfumed and silkier over the next three to five years and beyond.(95) PHILIP RICH, www.winecompanion.com2022shirazAustralia506$120.00 As low as $108.00 -
Ossa Syrah 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021shirazAustralia490$120.00 As low as $108.00 -
SC Pannell Koomilya GT Block Shiraz 2019The old property is serviced with bio-char and layers in a lot of regenerative agriculture that aims to reintroduce lots of native species into the farm. The GT block is 31 year old vines grafted from gewurztraminer to shiraz, 'GT stands for grafted or gewurztraminer', says Steve Pannell in his press release, but I go to famed mid-to-late 90s DJ and music producer, GrooveTerminator, when I see the initials. Almost a third is whole bunch fermented here, and 20% new oak used. Also, this is beautiful drinking right now.
There's a freshness and lift to the wine despite the concentration and layering of dark fruit, woody spice and general inkiness. The character of gewurz seems omnipresent despite no gewurz here - it's floral and pretty shiraz, flirty and quite notably silky, more soft in the shiraz spectrum and red fruited inflections chime in with plum and dark, forest berry fruits. A lick of cola and char here but the wine floats and swishes on velvety tannins and finishes extremely long and fine. MIKE BENNIE, winefront.com
2018shirazAustralia340$125.00 As low as $112.50 -
SC Pannell Koomilya JC Block Shiraz 2019From near 50-year-old vines on the Koomilya property, a unique site in McLaren Vale in many respects, and for vigneron Steve Pannell a place of spirituality and significance for him personally. Many connections to the place. Farmed with kindness to the land in mind. The wine sees around 20% whole bunches in the ferment, spends time in only used oak barrels. The notable thing here is the tannin quality. Wow.
To stutter, the tannin quality; wow. Immediately impressive, the cinch and pucker, the length of fine, weaving, silty tannins and the cool acidity that supports the glide and gloss of the wine. Dark cherry, ripe plums, some mocha and ferrous elements with dried herb, paperbark tree and salt bush characters in the mix. Bouquet and palate in accord on these descriptions. It's concentrated but doesn't feel heavy or cumbersome, the palate resetting with each sip with only latent spice and dried cherry characters lingering. It feels distinctly 'Aussie red wine' but upper tier. What a superb wine. MIKE BENNIE, winefront.com
2018shirazAustralia340$125.00 As low as $112.50 -
Domaine du Tunnel St Joseph 2022Made from grapes grown on vines with an average age of 40 years from the villages of Tournon-sur-Rhône, Mauves and Glun, the 2022 Saint-Joseph offers riper fruit and more structure than the 2021. Vivid red and black cherry, violets and leafy subtleties rise up from the glass. Medium-bodied, polished and concentrated, the 2022 should come together nicely. NICOLAS GREINACHER, Vinous2022shirazFrance467$125.00 As low as $112.50 -
SC Pannell Koomilya DC Block Shiraz 2019A very unique site tucked away between thatches of native forest and fringed by other old vine properties. The DC Block vines are 47 years old. There's 20% new oak employed here. A formidable and important project from Steve Pannell. The 2019 shiraz of McLaren Vale have a bit more dry reddiness as a thing, and there's some of that here, but the tannin and potency surpasses that.
It's highly perfumed, so rich and ripe, inky plummy fruit characters, brined black olive and a strong overlay of cedar, mahogany and clove. The palate is similarly generous and rich, plush and impenetrable, tightens on train tracks of cedary, firm and long ribbons of tannin and overall it feels succulent despite the heft and concentration. Formidable wine here, a quibble on how oak interplays in dryness with dryer spectrum fruit characters, but there's a hugely impressive wine in the glass regardless. MIKE BENNIE, winefront.com
2018shirazAustralia340$125.00 As low as $112.50 -
Bilancia Trelinnoe Syrah 2020What a great year 2020 was for HB Syrah. I don’t know the price, and I suspect it’s long sold out, but for the record.
Red fruits, paprika, exotic, liquorice, peppery too. Melting tannin, stony, plenty of juicy acidity, Dusty, aniseedy and very long. Such a distinct wine. Superb. GARY WALSH, www.winefront.com
2022shirazNew Zealand403$125.00 As low as $112.50 -
Long Shadows Sequel Syrah 2017More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2017shirazUnited States of America$125.00 As low as $112.50 -
Yangarra Ironheart Shiraz 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021shiraz$130.00 As low as $117.00 -
Coursodon St Joseph L'Olivaie 2020The 2020 Saint Joseph L'Olivaie comes from a parcel of 60-year-old vines. It's a winner, offering a rocking array of black and blue fruits, crushed stone, pepper, and flowers as well as medium to full-bodied richness on the palate. With plenty of mid-palate depth, ripe yet present tannins, and a great finish, it will give a top Hermitage a run for its money. JEB DUNNUCK
The medium to full-bodied 2020 Saint Joseph l'Olivaie, tasted out of barrel-the final blend will be roughly 50% from pièces de Bourgogne and 50% from demi-muids-showed an enthralling blend of raspberries and olives, a sexy, silky mouthfeel and great length and freshness on the finish. WINE ADVOCATE
2018shirazFrance467$130.00 As low as $117.00 -
Coursodon St Joseph l'Olivaie 2021From a steep lieux dits, L’oliveie at the top of St Jean de Muzols from syrah vines planted in the 1940s on shallow granite soils
The 2021 Saint Joseph L'Olivaie is rock-solid, offering pretty darker cherry and fresh fig-like notes as well as spice, game, and flowery incense nuances. This medium-bodied, supple, nicely balanced, and textured effort has outstanding potential and will certainly drink nicely right out of the gate. JEB DUNNUCKTasted blind. Perfumed nose, violet, rose petal, damp earth and black pepper. Good fresh acidity and a tightly wound core of dark fruits with a smoked ashy note – pepper, spice and good intensity of dark fruits. Vibrant and robust, fine tannic structure should see this age very well. ALISTAIR COOPER MW
2021shirazFrance467$130.00 As low as $117.00 -
Tyrrells Vat 9 Shiraz 2019More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2019shirazAustralia407$130.00 As low as $117.00 -
Vina Ventisquero Pangea Syrah 2018More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2018shirazChile430$135.00 As low as $121.50 -
Arnot Roberts Syrah 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2022shirazUSA362$135.00 As low as $121.50 -
Coursodon St Joseph l'Olivaie 2022The 2022 Saint-Joseph L'Olivaie originates from up to 80-year-old vines in the lieu-dit of the same name. Black cherry, blueberry, pencil shavings and discrete cedar elements are all pushed forward. Medium-bodied and juicy, the 2022 is shaping up to be an excellent, structured Saint-Joseph with the potential for extended bottle-aging. NICHOLAS GREINACHER
2022shirazFrance467$135.00 As low as $121.50 -
Bruno Paillard Brut Premiere Cuvee NVPinot noir leads this accurate, well-crafted aperitif style of elegant finesse and persistence. A primary red cherry, wild strawberry and lemon fruit focus is underlined by taut acidity and expressive chalk mineral depth. Nuances of honey, anise and ginger are building as it gains maturity. It's clean and taut, a low dosage keeping the finish fresh and lively. TYSON STELZERNVchardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot noirFrance376$140.00 As low as $126.00 -
Michael Hall Mount Torrens Adelaide Hills Syrah 2021 1500ml1 AVAIALABLE
A 480m site in Mount Torrens. Loam and clay over quartz and ironstone substrata. Hand picked, 100% whole bunches, fermented spontaneously before maturation in French oak (31% new) for 20 months. While I can sense the dill pickle of the stems, there is such depth of fruit and long-limbed grape tannins that I have no doubt the verdancy will be absorbed in time. Cornas-like. Wild and woolly. Ferrous, bloody, olive pasted and laden with smoky, spiced meats. A very good wine in an embryonic phase. Put this away for five to eight years. (95) NED GOODWIN, Halliday Wine Companion
Ink black core with a deep purple rim. Mulberry, dried woody herbs and black pepper aromatics. Medium to full, dark fruits on entry but this is built as a savoury wine. Curing meat, ironstone, iodine and dark spices with dried woody herbs all meld across the palate, grainy tannins accentuate the depth and it rolls long and dark to the finish. STUART KNOX, The Real Review2021shirazAustralia349$140.00 As low as $126.00 -
Yeringberg Shiraz 2014 Museum ReleaseShiraz from one of Australia’s greatest estates.
You name it, it’s here. This is the antithesis of a simple red. Every time you sip you find something different. It runs with redcurrant but from there come breakouts of meat, violets, black pepper, jellied liquorice, stems and mint. Tannin is grunty, almost grainy, with cloves and peppers studded through. The texture generally is quite silken but the wine as a whole does not go quietly, as indeed it shouldn’t. Beyond a certain price point we want more than mere fruit; the brief is met here. Excellent wine. For the dinner table, we sail. 93+ points. CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front
2013shirazAustralia506$140.00 As low as $126.00 -
Leon Barral Jadis Faugères 2020More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2020Carignan, Grenache, Mourvedre, shirazFrance418$140.00 As low as $126.00 -
Jasper Hill Emily's Paddock Shiraz 2023Full bodied, yet very approachable, Emily’s keeps on giving. Brilliant magenta in colour, this wine will stain. Intense dark fruits of cherry, raspberry and plum, followed through with a hint of mint and dark chocolate. Structured chalky tannins and balanced natural acidity allows this wine to be cellared. JASPER HILL2023shirazAustralia404$145.00 As low as $130.50 -
Roger Groult Calvados 8yo Pays d'Auge 41% 700mlMore product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
CalvadosFrance$150.00 As low as $135.00 -
Shobbrook Wines Ottantotto 2020More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2020shirazAustralia349$150.00 As low as $135.00 -
Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2019shirazAustralia506$150.00 As low as $135.00 -
Yarra Yering Dry Red Number 2 2021A blend of 96/2/1/1% shiraz/viognier/marsanne/mataro from 1969, 1980s and 1990s plantings. Fermented with whole berries and matured in barriques (30% new). A deep, bright crimson. Ripe with dark fruits, spice rack spices and a gentle waft of cedar. A rich, ripe mouthful of wine with firm, classic, old-school Yarra Yering tannins. An interesting contrast between this, the Underhill Shiraz and the Carrodus Shiraz, the No. 2 red may end up being the most long-lived of this terrific trio in 2021. (96) PHILIP RICH2019shirazAustralia506$150.00 As low as $135.00 -
Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz 2021Sourced from a single block planted in 1973. Fermented with a combination of whole bunches and whole berries. Half the wine was fermented and matured in a 3500L French foudre (purchased in 2019), the other half in French puncheons (10% new). A medium-deep and very bright crimson. Lifted and immediately appealing with its aromas of black raspberries and violets alongside a cornucopia of spices including cracked black pepper, anise and fennel seeds. A gorgeous medium-weighted, intensely flavoured and long Yarra Valley shiraz with enough tannin to suggest patience will be rewarded. Great stuff. (98) PHILIP RICH2019shirazAustralia506$150.00 As low as $135.00 -
Yarra Yering Dry Red Number 2 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2019shirazAustralia506$150.00 As low as $135.00 -
Mount Pleasant 1946 Vines Rosehill Shiraz 2023More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2018shirazAustralia407$155.00 As low as $139.50 -
Teusner The Righteous Shiraz 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021shirazAustralia349$155.00 As low as $139.50 -
Coursodon St Joseph Sensonne 2022The blockbuster-styled 2022 Saint-Joseph La Sensonne is loaded with intense wood smoke, clove, ripe black fruit and licorice tones. Medium- to full-bodied and concentrated, the 2022 will benefit from more time in bottle. Bold and savory, it walks off the stage with persistence on the structured finish. NICHOLAS GREINACHER2022shirazFrance467$155.00 As low as $139.50 -
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2023More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2023shirazAustralia365$155.00 As low as $139.50 -
Torbreck The Factor Shiraz 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021shirazAustralia349$160.00 As low as $144.00 -
Herve Souhaut Saint Joseph Les Cressieux 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2022shirazFrance467$160.00 As low as $144.00 -
Billon Cote Rotie Les Elotins 2019More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2019shiraz, ViognierFrance467$163.00 As low as $146.70 -
Swinney Farvie Grenache 2022Nice to have this wine back in town after an absence in 2021. The power and concentration of the vineyard and the style is immediately evident. The intensity strikes immediately on the nose, while once the wine starts to roll across your palate you know you in a head zone of great power. It was a warm and concentrated vintage. Brilliant crimson colour with a bright luminosity and brilliant purity that lifts effortlessly from the glass. Floral notes with a dried herbie sage bush character engages immediately. Dry chalky tannins with a trace of minerally iron filings. It’s vibrant and fleshy with real volume of flavour. Continues to mark its turf as an Australian classic. (98) RAY JORDAN
Now that Farvie is a trio, and not a duo, and the Mourvèdre sits neatly in between the Grenache and Syrah in terms of hue, timbre and attitude, this Grenache seems more succulent, fragrant and blushingly attractive than ever. It is imperceptibly lighter, more rhubarb and pomegranate-tinged and creamier than ever. The colour is a crimson and carmine amalgam, and the nose is akin to a stroll through an Amazonian arboretum. It is sexy, and it knows it, and before it gets too lascivious, on cue, it firms up, dries out and ends with a vicious lick of stern acidity. After such a lavish welcome, this finish is fantastic because it snaps your senses to attention and reminds you that while Farvie Grenache is a consummate charmer, beneath the surface, it is a weaponised wine with extraordinary skill. (19+/20) MATTHEW JUKES2022shirazAustralia400$170.00 As low as $153.00 -
Swinney Farvie Mourvedre 2022Having fallen head over heels with this wine in the 2021 vintage, my stomach was in knots when I approached the 2022 in Perth. Would ‘second album syndrome’ strike? Not a chance. This wine’s fanfare is all-encompassing, with an epic nose that is striking, fruit-packed and sophisticated. There are abundant rose petals, plum and red cherry notes, and sensual waves of florality and bounteous juiciness are countered by intense, brittle minerality. The acid line scours the palate with masochistic striations that form the tramlines on which this wine delivers its message with tireless accuracy. And then you notice that something is missing. Unlike virtually every other mesmeric Mourvèdre on earth, oak is seemingly missing. Of course, this is an illusion because behind every cache of flavour molecules sits a silent oak nuance, hidden from view but doing the covert task of adding grandeur and detail without craving any credit. This is another jaw-dropping wine, and it stands a chance of running a longer race than the 2021, too, so be sure to secure your stock. (19.5+/20), MATTHEW JUKES
The second iteration of this wine (tasted pre-release), which is quickly rising to icon status in Swinney’s portfolio. Tiny production from bushvines, the fruit is harvested in three passes wild fermented in whole bunches and matured in old oak. Currently tightly wound and holding its cards close to its chest, its starry journey ahead is clear. Vibrant, densely knit dark black plum aromas with a jewel-like clarity, along with violets, star anise, eucalypt, heady ferrous notes and crushed earth. Tannins might be tight and bunched up in their youth, but they are chalky and fine in structure, and the long line of delicate acidity helps deliver waves of flavour long after the last sip. Complex, vivacious and nuanced; a new Mourvèdre benchmark has been set. (98) CASSANDRA CHARLICK, Decanter
This is the second vintage of the Farvie Mourvedre and takes the excellent ’21 up a notch. It has a dry, savoury and slightly ferruginous rusty nail character offsetting the sweet floral notes on the nose. The palate is a superb interpretation of the variety in these Frankland soils. There is a slightly greater volume of fruit than ’21, bit it retains the same Old-World charm and expression. Chalky tannins and balanced use of oak. Tasted this about 4 months apart and already the shy middle palate I first saw has started to unfurl. Energy and vibrancy set this apart. A worthy addition to the Farvie triumvirate. (98) RAY JORDAN
2022shirazAustralia400$170.00 As low as $153.00