Wine Enthusiast – This wine is dark and earthy at first, but opens with airing to reveal bold notes of blueberry, mocha and peppery spice. This 50-50 blend of Grenache and Syrah is full bodied, richly textured and finishes long.

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – It offers fabulous black cherry, licorice, wet gravel and ample crushed rock like minerality. Medium to full-bodied, nicely textured, elegant and polished.

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 Suckling – Aromas of chocolate and dark fruit with hints of blackberries, cherries and hazelnuts. Medium body, fine tannins with hints of herbs and dark fruit, and a lovely finish. Sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah.

James Halliday – “This is a beautiful wine, its aroma, its palate, its weight, its varietal and regional expression giving rise to a continuous stream of velvety pleasure. Flawless”

James Halliday – "... I love the transparency of the Barossa’s cooler seasons, in such articulate detail here that all 4 varieties are clearly visible in all their glory. Unashamedly medium bodied, refreshing and enticing, yet in no way underpowered, simplistic or short lived. Crunchy berry fruits, fine-ground tannins and vibrant acidity unite to marvellous effect and outstanding line and length. It takes some skill, dexterity and humility in the winery to allow fruit of such elegance to really sing. A classic Barossa blend with a long future before it.” 13 AUGUST 2021 - Tyson Stelzer, Halliday Wine Companion

Huon Hooke – This blend of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot has a track record of consistency, and ages beautifully. It’s labelled Barossa, a zone that embraces Eden Valley as well as Barossa Valley proper. It certainly tastes like a Henschke Eden Valley red, with tell-tale raspberry and sage among various dried-herb and spice aromas, floral and earthy nuances too. It’s deliciously fruit-sweet, almost lush in the mouth, the masses of fine, subtly drying tannins keeping the finish and aftertaste neat and disciplined. A lovely wine, approachable already but certainly built to last and will be reward even a few years in the cellar. (Screwcap)

James Suckling – 96 Points - "Representing a lighter shade of Barossa, the suite of wine from Alex Head gets better each year. While this is full-bodied in terms of extract and alcohol, it is vibrant, subtly reductive, detailed and immaculately poised, making for effortless drinking. Limestone soils impart a je ne sais quoi tension to a whirl of white pepper, clove, boysenberry, deli meats and lilac. Yet what makes this so impressive is the combination of tannin, juicy freshness and confident oak handling, all boding well for cellaring. Drinkable now, but best from 2026. Screw cap." - Ned Goodwin MW (James Suckling)

World Wine – "Medium deep colour. Intense blackcurrant, blackberry aromas with cedar/ mocha oak notes. Generous, supple and claret-like with plentiful cassis, blackberry, mulberry fruits, earthy notes fine looseknit grainy textures, and well-balanced mocha, vanilla oak. Finishes cedary with fruit sweet notes and attractive mineral length. A very smart Coonawarra Shiraz reflecting vine age, classic terra rossa soils and empathetic winemaking. Drink now." Rating: 96 points Source: Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal

The Wine Front – Medium bodied, red and black fruits, five spice, a little liquorice and gum leaf. It’s a lovely thing to drink – refined and seamless – with light tannin, cool acidity, fresh spicy berries, and a cool finish tinged with caramel, sap and spice.

Huon Hooke – “Deep red/purple colour, with a spicy-meaty bouquet of young and slightly callow shiraz, alluring in its smoky and faintly vegetal Rhône-like complexity. The wine is elegantly framed with quite assertive but very supple tannins, the overall impression being of a delicious slinky texture. Long, long carry. A stylish shiraz.”

James Halliday – Binder's malt chocolate tannins melt across this powerful wine's attack of dark fruit flavours and spice: plum, dark cherry, mace and five-spice spring to the nostrils. There is nothing whatsoever jammy about this, with the kinetic fruit held tightly to the plush breast of all American oak and impeccably drawn out grape tannins. The end result is one of power, intensity and yet, a lingering impression of savouriness.

James Halliday – Very old, low-yielding vines (circa 1900), all on sandy soils. Crushed and cold soaked for a couple of days. A short, open-topped fermentation is buttressed by oak, French and American, where the wine spends a lengthy period. A brooding, take-no-prisoners sort of expression that harks back to wines of yore. Mocha, vanilla, espresso and bourbon scents mask dark cherry, anise, clove and violet. At least at this nascent stage. Yet there is nothing harsh or edgy about this. The power, excess and underlying fruit fold into a well-polished package. Ned Goodwin MW Published 13 August 2021

James Halliday –

James Halliday –