The Wine Front – Biodynamic farmed from a single vineyard on the Paxton estate. Grows up in French and American oak barrels. Paxton have been a leading light in showing biodynamic (certified) viticulture can be done to scale, well. Inky, deep, throaty red of hearty, dark fruit character, all inky cassis and choc-berry, liquid spice, fat tannins. A juicy, fleshy, plush flow of espresso tinged plummy fruit, gritty, savouriness to close. This is a big, bold red of warming character and density. Touch of warmth in the mix. It’s done pretty well for its style.

James Halliday – Biodynamic-grown fruit, open-fermented, matured in French and American barriques for 18 months. A celebrated McLaren Vale single vineyard wine, effortlessly providing a deep well of black fruits and fine-grained tannins, the oak a positive contributor, not a rabble rouser.

World Wine – Chocolate, dried plum and anise notes are juicy and bursting with blackberry accents. Balanced and smooth, especially on the finish. Drink now through 2026.

James Halliday – "Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. Enter its world. There's grandness to this red that is apparent from the first sip. It has both intensity and breadth, but then it also has volume and length. Drinking it is like diving into the ocean. It tastes of cassis, dark chocolate, peppermint, violets and lightly browned toast. Tannin rolls towards the finish from a long way out; it crashes through the finish in sets. You can drink it now; there's so much action to be tucked into. But wow this has a future." - Campbell Mattinson (Halliday Wine Companion)

The Wine Front – Rose oil and sappy perfume, juicy sweet and sour cherry, autumnal stuff, spice. Medium bodied, spiced cherry and plum, firm acidity, sappy flavours, a bit savoury, length good too, mulchy and pert.

James Halliday – Hand-picked, wild yeast, 7 days cold soak, open-fermented, 5 days post-ferment maceration, matured in French oak (20% new) for 11 months, not fined or filtered. Good hue, clear purple-crimson; has a tangy brightness to the cherry-accented fruit flavours, the palate long and particularly well balanced; a juicy, fresh finish, oak no more than a whisper.

The Wine Front – "It's a mighty wine, weighty with fruit and oak flavour, but it's also fresh and flowing." 94 Points - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

The Wine Front – Lusty, slurpy red with beefiness and sweet-sour tendencies in the nicest sense. Stains the palate thick with rich, red fruitiness, some cola and light coffee elements, touches of toast and clove. Scents like all that, big wall of it, effective in delivery of McLaren Vale shirazisms. It’s a lovely red, relishes its warm-hearted appeal, delivers concentration and many layers. It feels fine tuned too, in the sense that there’s some decent tannin licks and woody spice to show edges. Nice.

James Halliday – There is a lighter touch to this than in past vintages, although it's still a dense, compact and richly flavoured wine. A stellar vintage and a long, gentle extraction (133 days) on skins in a 675L ceramic egg helped. Pointed northern Rhône-like aromas of blueberry, violet, white pepper, dried nori, black olive and clove. An undercarriage of briar and hedgerow imparts a welcome savouriness. The sinewy tannic mettle suggests this will age well and grow with stature in time.

James Halliday – "From an east-facing contoured vineyard that catches all the morning sun. Perfectly ripened white stone fruit with a quick squeeze of Meyer lemon. Has been fermented and matured in French oak in such a way as to leave the gorgeous fruit centre stage, the palate of endless length." - James Halliday (Halliday Wine Companion)

Wine Enthusiast – "A wine that shows the evolution of both style and quality of this now well-established WA Syrah. It now has the addition of clone 470 in addition to the original Houghton clone from when it was planted in 1988. A small amount of viognier and Mourvèdre is also used. The wine was matured for 14 months in 3500-litre French Oak foudre and a few additional 500-litre puncheons. This is an exciting development. The wine has become more elegant and stylish while gaining complexity and better structural tannin profile. It’s medium bodied with beautifully expressive red fruits and a little spice and black pepper. Outstanding." - 96 points - Ray Jordan, WinePilot.com, April 2024

The Wine Front – Pungent start. Steaming pineapple tarte Tatin. Appetising. More sweet pastry, some coconut nuance, lavender, almond nougat, wood spice. It’s full-on with power, energetic, pushing with a hit of ripe flavour and a whack of grapefruity acidity. I want to say it’s meaty with crushed bitter sage finish. Flavours linger in the back palate with a big lick of lime and salt. It has great intensity that needs time to settle.

The Wine Front – "Super shiraz. Powerfully fruited but soft through the palate and, importantly, spread widely with tannin. A few sips and the word complete came to mind. Berries, earth, woodsmoke, peppercorns and toast. Viognier adds brightness and texture more than it does flavour, though it is (just) detectable. This feels like an outstanding wine at all points along the palate." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

James Halliday – "Great depth and spread of flavour and a remarkable set of tannin. It's the complete red wine. Smoky, ripe, drenched in red berry and clove flavours, a finish that reaches far. Dark chocolate and toast characters are melted through, as indeed are dark roasted spice notes. Cracking wine." - James Halliday (Halliday Wine Companion)

James Halliday – "Sourced from the old bush vine block on the Wait Vineyard, in Blewitt Springs. Arguably the most filigreed and complex of these single-vineyard iterations by virtue of its brood and carnal complexities: blood orange seeped with kirsch, woodsmoke and clove. Like the finest Sicilian-accented negroni. Straddles pinosity and nebbiolo-inspired boniness all at once, while laying the structural lattice to define a long, thrilling ride to the finish. Yet there is the mescal and dill-pickle note suggesting a bit more ripeness may be not such a bad idea." - Ned Goodwin MW (Halliday)

Huon Hooke – "Medium-deep and bright red-purple hue; the bouquet is sweetly spiced raspberry to dark cherry with hints of cola and Campari, utterly charming, while the palate is medium bodied at best and succulently smooth and supple in texture. Fruit sweet and delicious. An outstanding grenache of the modern style. Previous comments apply, but it deserves a higher rating." - Huon Hooke

James Halliday – One of my go-to chenins because it delivers on so many levels, especially deliciousness. A slightly richer rendition this vintage with quince and all manner of stone fruits, luscious, refreshing and lively thanks to its acidity, but this is textbook texture. There’s also a saltiness, in a good way, like preserved lemons and sea spray with pear skin-like phenolics, plus some spicy ginger powder and even pepper. Mouth-watering all the way through.

James Halliday – Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed to French puncheons and hogsheads (25% new), minimal stirring, a small amount of mlf, remained on lees for 9 months with little intervention. There's no question that the depth and richness of the fruit is akin to that of Beechworth, not Yarra Valley, and even less the Mornington Peninsula. It's a wine that marches to the tune of its big bass drum. Made by Robin Brockett.

James Halliday – P58 clone planted '95, whole-bunch pressed for full solids wild ferment in French oak (60% new), matured for 10 months. A very complex struck match bouquet, the palate leaving 10-15 seconds to throw its irresistible power that has a whole grapefruit crushed into a health juice. This is highly polarising, more Burgundian that Australian. Made by Ray Nadeson.