Deep, rich red colour with a tint of purple, the bouquet rich and ripe, decadently rich and concentrated but not over the top. It has some elegance and very good balance. A big, soft, silky wine with a lot of old-vine concentration and supple texture. Sheer class. (From a single estate vineyard planted in 1893).
98 points, The Real Review (May 2019)
Blackberry, cream, chocolate, old leather, spice. Deep, plush wine with black fruit, a savoury edge, tart blackberry acidity, fleshy tannin, and a long finish offering chewiness and dry grip. There’s charisma, intensity, and something a bit different about this wine. And for that, I rate it highly.
95 points, The Wine Front (June 2019)
A single plot of vines planted in 1893. There’s a rich and deeply juicy impression from the get-go with a very composed dark plum, blackberry and spice nose as well as a fresh, fleshy and succulent core of blackberries. Very plush and long tannins here. Majestic and noble.
95 points, jamessuckling.com (June 2019)
An epic wine from vines planted 8 years before Federation in 1893. A distillation of all the other shiraz wines made at Kaesler - big, layered, ripe, dense, spicy, tannic, lively and fresh. You could argue that it's a caricature, much like the label on the front of the bottle. But is so much better than that. A historical time machine with its own a gravitational pull.
98 points, Wine Companion (January 2019)
Colonel William Light, the South Australian colony’s Surveyor-General, named the Barossa in 1837 after the site of an English victory over the French in the Spanish Peninsular War. In the mid-1800’s Silesian and English immigrants settled in the area. The Barossa itself comprises two distinct sub-regions: Eden Valley and the warmer Barossa Valley floor at 270m.The Barossa Valley enjoys a warm Mediterranean climate characterised by hot dry summers and relatively low rainfall. Cool sea breezes from the Gulf of St Vincent modify the temperature, however hot northerly winds can occasionally dominate creating considerable vine stress. Many older established vineyards are dry-grown, but supplementary irrigation is also extensively used. The valley is comprised of rich brown soils and alluvial sands. A long history of uninterrupted viticulture in the area means the Barossa valley is home to Australia’s largest concentration of old-vine Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre with many over 100 years old. Although most famous for Shiraz, the Barossa can also produce fragrant and deliciously fruity Grenache blends and beautifully rich, chocolatey Cabernet Sauvignons.