James Halliday – "The second release of the MMAD Vineyard label, and off its 1939 planted Blewitt Springs vineyard. About 15% whole bunches, fermented in wood and steel, maturation in concrete and large old French oak. Unlike the 2022 shiraz, this takes time to emerge from the glass. It’s all there, though. There’s a brooding quality at present, with nori, iodine and ferrous notes filtering up through dark red cherry, plum, raspberry and sultry florals. Some spicy, musky characters emerge with air. Tannin is a meaningful factor, a pleasingly natural grape-derived affair, rugged but never rustic. A seriously compelling wine, and further proof of how thrilling McLaren Vale grenache is right now, for both its quality and the unparalleled diversity in top-flight expressions." - Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

Huon Hooke – Deep, bright red-purple colour with dominant nutmeg-spice aromas, and a full-bodied, firm palate that seems tight and a little unresolved at this stage. It's firm and deep, and looks to have more to reveal if given time. Certainly the concentration and palate length are very promising. A serious grenache!

World Wine – The wine offers splendid juicy fruit attack on the nose, showing dark plum and raspberry coulis characters with nuances of toasted almond, thyme and mixed spice. The palate is succulent and beautifully rounded, offering lovely flow and supple texture.Wonderfully composed and elegantly expressed with loads of delectable flavours, superbly structured by polished tannins. Delicious already with a potential to evolve gracefully. 56% cabernet sauvignon, 39% merlot and 5% cabernet franc. Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

The Wine Front – Biodynamic farming, lees maturation, attention to detail, great vineyard sites. Rudi Bauer of Quartz Reef has many positives in the manifestation of his life work. Beyond that, and so often it’s hard to separate the person who makes the wine from the wine itself, he’s an outstanding human. And hilarious. That being said, it means little when wines are in brown paper bags being tasted. This wine leapt from the pack. Incredible intensity, inward concentration, a knife edge of acidity in finely wrapped layers of toastiness, marzipan, brioche with a sleek, lean profile of green apple and citrus. Fine, fine bubbles add dimension and freshness. Aside its precision, it’s gorgeous to drink, refreshing the palate with each sip, leaving lingering detail of the presence of the wine. Insanely good drinking. It’s fine wine personified. Kudos here.

Wine Spectator –

James Halliday – Matured for 12 months in new and used oak (88% French, 12% American). Bright crimson colour heralds a wine full of vitality; red berry flavours surge through the mouth, gauzy tannins in the background adding to the exuberant mouthfeel and length.

World Wine – Leesy and ginger notes frame pear and light herbal flavors in this bright, balanced white. Features a polished texture and firm acidity. The finish is spicy and long.

James Halliday – This wine has shapeshifted nicely over the years, segueing from a fruit-forward iteration to a more streamlined, taut and spicy expression. Mid weighted, savoury and highly suggestive of the northern Rhône. Aromas of mace, clove, dill pickle, salumi and spiced cherry. Yet there is nothing hard to the tannins or too challenging for those seeking established styles. Juicy and long of flow, this makes for excellent, versatile everyday drinking. - Ned Goodwin (James Halliday Wine Companion)

World Wine – The Cillar de Silos Crianza is produced with the fruit from different old-vine plots (40 to 50 years of age) on sand and lime soils, feels quite classical, with aromas of ripe black fruit, spicy oak and an herbal side that adds freshness. The palate is remarkably fresh for the vintage, with polished, fine tannins and enough acidity. A very good crianza.

The Wine Front – Grown mostly on the Rayner vineyard in McLaren Vale. 43 year old grenache vines; 65 year old shiraz vines; mataro from nearby. Some whole bunches, mostly with the mataro. All old oak. Bottled unfined/unfiltered. Another fantastic release from Bondar. Just the right mix of structure, flavour and interest. This is a savoury, sinewy wine first and foremost though flavours of graphite, woodsmoke, black cherry and fennel mean that there’s plenty else going on. Those strains of spicy tannin though; those fistfuls of smoked twigs and spices; they really set the scene. It twirls and twists through the mouth like it’s mapping out genes. A light-but-exquisite red wine. 93 points, Campbell Mattinson, winefront.com.au

World Wine – 96 Points + Gold (Decanter World Wine Awards 2023)

James Suckling – A very cool wine. Made from almost all garnacha, it has a depth and intensity with a minerality and saltiness. Plenty of strawberries and flowers. Medium body. Vivid and focused. Lovely finish already. Made from organic grapes.

James Halliday – "If Pat Carmody can’t make great shiraz, then we should all shut up shop. He’s only been doing so at Craiglee for, oh, about 40-plus years. There's a DNA imprint to this, with a whorl of dark fruit, warm spices shot through, cedary oak and wafts of red roses. Very savoury though, fuller bodied with archetypal Craiglee tannins supple, shapely and ripe. Yes, a lovely wine made by a legend." (Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion)

Wine Enthusiast – An attractive value, this is generous and fresh, with layers of citrus, peach, honey and dried grass. Pair this with cheese appetizers or Parmigiano chunks.

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.

James Suckling – Aromas of cherry chocolate with sweet orange peel and dark berry marmalade. Medium- to full-bodied, toned and blue-fruited with crunchy acidity coming through. Tannins are round and supple.

The Wine Front – Blackberry and blueberry, spice and aniseed, a lick of vanilla. Full bodied, but kind of smooth with it, dark chocolate and black olives, balanced acidity, and deep fleshy tannin rolling onto the finish. Richness of fruit, grounded by the earthiness of Kay’s. It’s entirely convincing, and good.

James Halliday – "An incredibly dense and luxuriant palate grabs all the attention; how this has been achieved with 14% alcohol is anyone's guess, but I'm not disposed to argue, because the outcome is a totally serendipitous, supple, full-bodied shiraz replete with dark Swiss chocolate wrapped around luscious black fruits." Halliday Wine Companion '16

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – The Coteaux du Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac Les Obriers offers fabulous Cinsault character and shows how interesting this variety can be when done right. Incredibly floral and perfumed, with sweet blackberry, violets, lilacs and exotic spices, this medium-bodied, elegant and silky effort builds on the palate, shows notable freshness and a pure, hard-to-resist feel. I'd drink it over the coming 4-5 years, but it will evolve for longer.

The Wine Front – Necessity is the mother of invention. In 1993 Tim Adams was desperately short of shiraz and cabernet so his neighbour, Fergus Mahon, sold him some grenache to keep him ticking over. Hence The Fergus blend was born, and has been made ever since. This release includes tempranillo and malbec, all of which is dry-grown. Its usual reliable self. There was a time when I wasn’t a great fan of The Fergus but we’ve moved on from there in recent years. It’s well-balanced, fleshy, not too light and not too heavy. It’s red berried with star anise, cola and gum leaf highlights. It’s a well tailored red, perfect for casual drinking.

The Wine Front – Gary Walsh - 94 Points - So purple. So good. It’s spicy, floral, liquorice, dark fruits and boysenberry, with a bloody ‘mineral’ character from the Mataro. Light grip of open-weave tannin, freshness and vigour, and a long shapely finish. Wonderful expression of Barossa here.