Huon Hooke – Youthful deep red/purple colour, bright and deep, the aromas likewise fresh and bright, clean and pure, with cranberry and blackberry nuances, fruit driving it. The wine is full-bodied and powerful, intense and driving, with abundant soft powdery tannins that coat the entire palate. There's a disarming juiciness in its core, for all the drying savouriness of the tannins that surround it. The Real Review, 5 March 2022

Huon Hooke – Ink black heart into a glass-coating deep purple rim. Dark fruits, lifted North African spices and black olive tapenade on the nose. Deep and dense on the palate, dark fruits, loam and bay leaf show early then roll into a melange of spices, blood and stones. Undoubtedly full-bodied but the fine brush of acidity and gravelly tannins control it and bring a vitality that’s unexpected. Lingers forever on the palate. A great example of big Barossa handled with great care and attention. - Stuart Knox, The Real Review

James Halliday – A blend of three distinctive blocks on loams, silt and clay. No whole bunch. Gently extracted by wetting the cap and racking/returning. Circa 20 days on skins. 6 months in puncheons. 6 more in foudres and a concrete egg. A corpulent wine, lush and full. Yet there is nothing jammy about it. Eclipsed by its Bordeaux varietal siblings perhaps, but as far as warm-climate shiraz goes, this is at the apex of the qualitative totem pole. Blue fruits, violet, anise, clove and pepper grind. Some salumi, too. But the tannins are this gorgeous wine’s opus. - Ned Goodwin MW, James Halliday Wine Companion 2022, 13 August, 2021, 95 Points

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

James Halliday – From a single block of bush vines planted in '62, destemmed but whole berries, 10% whole bunch, open fermented, 13 days on skins, aged in seasoned barrels for 7 months. Heady aromas of raspberries, star anise and a dash of Mediterranean herbs. Lovely balance and a succulence on the medium-bodied palate where ripe, sandy tannins kick in. Pitch-perfect now. 95 POINTS JANE FAULKNER - HALLIDAY'S WINE COMPANION

James Halliday – "As good as merlot gets on these shores." 92 Points - Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday

The Wine Front – "...a huge volume of flavour, all black olive tapenade and sage and sweet dark fruit on a finish of excellent length. It's a bold wine, and kind of overt as a youngster, but should turn out well with considerable bottle age." 94 Points - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front It has might and power but it’s not over the top; fruit-wise it’s ‘only’ medium in weight and, indeed, it boasts both an elegance and a fruit freshness. But my oh my, what a swagger of tannin, what an infusion of fragrant shrubbery, what commanding length. Oak, smoky and cedar-like, plays a key role but safe to say, the wine is up to it and then some. Roll me in a river of this. Smoked tobacco. Old dry bay leaves. Fresh redcurrant, into black. This is a cabernet. 96+ Points' - Campbell Mattinson, Winefront

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.

James Halliday – “Open-fermented, 8 days on skins, 26 months in French barriques (35% new) plus 20 months in bottle before release. Cassis/blackcurrant notes plus mint and briar.”

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”

The Wine Front –