Impressively deep, youthful purple/red colour. The bouquet has almond meal and almost marzipan hints, which override the dark plum and white pepper/spice aromas, which all vie for attention. The wine is full-bodied but elegant, far from a blockbuster, and the tannins are supple and ripe yet persistent and lasting on the finish. Oak has been sensitively managed. High potential stuff, worth cellaring. It's good now, but time is needed to get the full pay-off.
95 points, The Real Review (October 2017)
Black olive/tapenade aromas. The palate is fine-grained and stylish, fleshy and supple, with lots of soft tannins. Balanced and deep, with some detail.
93 points, The Real Review (August 2018)
Dark, dense purple colour. The bouquet is bright, fresh and concentrated, with dark plums, spices and blackberry. It's dense, chewy, full-bodied and massively concentrated, with great power and high extract. This needs time, and should reward big-time. A most impressive syrah built for the long-term.
97 points, The Real Review (January 2019)
Supremely elegant syrah with floral, violet, black and white pepper, dark berry, chocolate, liquorice and mixed spice flavours. A fine-grained wine, with a backbone of ripe tannins that suggests potential without being a barrier to enjoyment right now. Beautifully layered with a complex array of flavours and lifted aromatics.
98 points, The Real Review (October 2017)
Dense, chewy wine that seems a little slimmed-down in terms of style with brighter acidity than most.
96 points, The Real Review (October 2018)
Blueberry and blackcurrant, white (and some all black) pepper, grilled meat, dried flowers, star anise and cinnamon. Medium bodied, fresh and spicy, dusty peppery tannin, vibrant minerally acidity, savoury first, with succulent small berry and dark cherry flavour in tow. Bursts with fresh fruit and white pepper on the long finish. Classic Syrah. All just so.
95 points, The Wine Front (July 2017)
The top syrah for Craggy Range is in terrific ripe and juicy form in 2015, showing a very pure and attractively raw fruit expression on the nose with fresh blackberry, blueberry and dark toasted spices. The palate has a clever sense of build and really blooms from the inside out, pushing sweet, ripe blackberry and dark cherry fruit flavor wide and deep. Tannins glide like silk. Drink now and for some years to come – this will develop smoothly in bottle.
94 points, jamessuckling.com (December 2017)
