James Suckling – Firm and tight licorice, graphite, slate and light dried strawberry. Goes to iron. Flowers. Medium body. Creamy and fine tannins with a rather dusty finish. Fresh acidity and long and linear finish. Structured. From biodynamically grown grapes. Better after 2024, but already beautiful. - 98 Points, James Suckling

Huon Hooke – "A stunning chardonnay" - Huon Hooke, 97pts

World Wine – 97 Points - Jane Skilton MW

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 – "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

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

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)

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 – A selection of the best estate-grown chardonnay, with only 400 dozen made, winemaking much the same as its junior sibling. While retaining freshness and precision, the fruit here is more juicy and polished, not quite as angular.

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 – Great to see a wine that delivers such a robust amount of flavor and perfume, without losing structure and drinkabilty. It’s a have your cake and eat it wine! Strange thing to say, but close your eyes, and you could almost imagine a Pinot Noir. There’s a good deal of high quality oak laying down sweet spiced biscuits and perfume over white cherries and plum, nectarine, and aniseed too. Medium weight, with juicy ruby red grapefruit acidity and flavour, distinctly flinty and delightful texture, offering a heady mix of restraint and power. Finish is long, spicy and crisply mouth-watering. Great Chardonnay, and I suspect, there’s more to come.