The Wine Front – Ash, red cherries, white pepper and twigs. Fine fingers of tannin. Juicy, lingering finish. Light-ish but good. - 2019 Vintage Review

James Halliday – Best Coonawarra Cabernet, 96 Points - James Halliday’s Cabernet Challenge 2023

Huon Hooke – 'Light straw-yellow colour. The aromas are superbly fresh and intense, youthful and bright, with herb and lemon aromas of real charm. The palate is juicy and ripe, fresh and clean and bright, with delicious lemon and herb and a compelling juiciness. It's fresh, youthful, reserved and not at all austere or tight. The acidity is perfectly balanced, the wine is eminently drinkable now and will certainly age well. A seriously good young semillon.' 95 points - Huon Hooke, Therealreview.com

James Suckling – A very fine chardonnay, without quite the precision, detail and tension that I recall from other years. Stone fruit, flint, lanolin, porcini and that regional tattoo of glazed quince. Quinine bitterness at the finale. Mid-weighted and nicely nervous in the mouth, while suitably open-knit enough to breach already. Fine.

World Wine – 97 Points - Jane Skilton MW

James Suckling – "Damn this is reductive, demanding an aggressive decant, or an eagle eye in the cellar and plenty of patience. Yet the material lurking behind this flinty, terse carapace is thoroughly impressive: pithy stone fruits, anise, glazed quince and citrus marmalade. Thrilling levels of sheer extract, intensity and length, to boot. Trust me. WAIT! Drinkable now, but best from 2027"

The Wine Front – If you’re lucky, and most of us aren’t, there comes a time in your life when it all comes together. I suspect that’s what’s happened with this Blewitt Springs vineyard, planted in the middle of the Second World War, and the collection of wine people behind MMAD, all of whom have weathered a lot of summers in a lot of places in the pursuit of wine excellence. This wine tastes of a lot of right decisions, and of a lot of time spent in the journey to them. It has texture, balance, flavour and all that, but as my mum would say, ‘any dumb bunny can do that’. More importantly, what this wine has is all the nods and winks. I once wrote, a long time ago, of a moment where union legend David Campese ran straight through a bunch of defenders without breaking stride, or altering course. He did something, something that couldn’t be seen, and made the impossible look effortless. So too here. It has degrees of silk, fruit enough, a spinnaker on the finish, a volume of nuance. If there was such a thing for single vineyard, vintage, Aussie shiraz, this wine would be classified as first growth.

James Halliday – "This is a seriously impressive release, showcasing winemaker Adam Wadewitz’s learnings from the first vintage and the bounty of full viticultural control. The old-vine fruit could easily handle about one-third whole bunch, a Wadewitz favourite. And that impact is profoundly positive, weaving in spicy, smoky notes and complexing tannins to provide exceptional tension without greenness. Red and blue fruits, violet and dusky red florals, coal dust, anise, cacao and roasted coffee bean. Intensity on the palate at moderate alcohol and no heavy mid-palate sweetness nor new oak. Rather, it is poised throughout, with fruit intensity seamlessly meshed into a silky, supple but aptly assertive structure, a ferrous nori/ kelp mineral note underpinning. For a site purchased prizing grenache, this is a revelation." - Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

James Suckling – Vivid aromas of crushed blackberries, cloves, iodine and dried kelp, lifted by a potpourri of purple flowers. Dense, compact and detailed, with tannic precision. This is a full-bodied wine, yet it is the intricacy of the structure that draw me back to the glass. Long, beautiful and destined for excellent drinking across the mid-term.

Huon Hooke – Very complex Rhône-ish meaty/spicy bouquet of formidable charm and detail. Theres a nicely judged touch of reduction in there, and the wine is fleshy and sumptuous on the palate, smooth textured and glossy, with a lingering aftertaste packed with supple, polished tannins that are in effortless support. An outstanding shiraz. The tannins are formidable and sneaky—they will ensure a long aging career. A stonking McLaren Vale regional shiraz.

James Halliday – Giant Steps has its fruit sourcing, and minimalist winemaking, down to a fine art. It has an exotic, warm, spice-filled bouquet with musk and strawberry cream flavours. Makes it seem easy. It's not." 96 Points, Halliday Wine Companion.

The Wine Front – Very nicely done, and very nicely balanced too. Pears, a little spice, some nutty complexity, subtle tropical fruit, clean acidity, even a touch of flint, and watermelon rind on a good finish. Excellent.

The Wine Front –

Wine Spectator –

James Halliday – "The ancient (1847 planted) vines provided the backbone of this ultra-elegant, medium-bodied, French-oaked shiraz. Its perfect texture and balance." - 98 Points - Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2023 (The Australian Newspaper, November 2023)