Very attractive blue fruit and deeper, savory, serious notes. Some black fruit, graphite and licorice, as well as roasting herbs and orange peel. The palate has a very powerful, deep core of plums and licorice and smooth, long, deep, thick and plush tannins. Super long flavors. Like hand in glove, the flesh of shiraz with a strong, kid-leather wrap of mataro. Red-fruit finish. Spicy after trail. A co-fermented blend of 80% shiraz and mataro 20% from 1893, 1919 and 1920 plantings. Just superb. A great drink now with plenty ahead.
98 points, JamesSuckling.com (August 2020)
The first thing I said from first sip of the 2018 releases was ‘this has very good shape’. Those fine tannins are a feature and highlight, keeping the wine to medium weight with rambunctious scents of just ripe raspberry, faint game meat, potpourri, fennel, Aussie bush and white pepper. Succulent in the palate, fresh and very long, exceptional length and poise. This one is a keeper. Fantastic, finer boned expression. It’s fantastic drinking right now, too. A pedigree wine from hello.
96 points, The Wine Front (August 2020)
Honey nuts, red and black fruit, light mint and dried herb and aniseed perfume. Medium-bodied, really supple, almost gummy feel to it, tannin is firm and neatly packed, comes in fresh and more red fruited on the finish, with just a little regional gum leaf. Really good wine. Most approachable of the 2018 releases as at now. Harmonious.
95+ points, The Wine Front (August 2020)
The Clare Valley
The Clare Valley is located two hours north of Adelaide in the Mount Lofty ranges. The region was settled by John Horrocks who encouraged his servant James Green to plant the first vines in 1842. Climate in the Clare Valley is continental with hot summers, cold winters and low rainfall that necessitates supplementary irrigation. Soils in the valley are predominantly red brown loams over shale, permitting excellent drainage. Many of the best vineyards are located at higher elevations of 400-500m on sites that take advantage of the cool breezes that funnel up the corrugation of hills from the south. The Clare Valley is renowned for its zesty fruit-pure Rieslings particularly from the sub-regions of Polish Hill and Watervale. The region also produces intense age-worthy sturdy reds from Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.
