World Wine – 98 points + Gold - Adelaide Wine Show

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

The Wine Front – Pretty, floral, red and black fruit, a sneaky grid of pepper, dried roses and violet. Medium-bodied, concentrated, a little liquorice and spice, nutty, dense and clenched, very graphite and ‘mineral’ character, beef stock and meaty flavours too, and a long finish packed with silty tannin, coffee bean and violet. Beautiful Syrah here. All just so.

Wine Enthusiast – Simply put, this is a beauty of a Bullnose bottling. The ancient red-iron soils of this long-standing Hawkes Bay estate have turned out an evocative nose of plum and blueberry amid a sappy, early spring forest of fresh flowers, herbs and spice (think sage, bay, peppercorn, anise). There's brightness and freshness to the silky palate despite the chiseled tannins. Captures not only a sense of place but also Syrah's often elusive tightrope walk of power and elegance. Drink now–2030.

Huon Hooke – Deep, bright purple/red colour and a very aromatic pepper and mixed spice bouquet that shouts 'cool-climate shiraz'. The wine is medium to full-bodied and elegantly shaped, soft fine tannins doing a great job to restrain the exuberant fruit. Refreshing acidity is perfectly harmonised. A gem of a shiraz, very much a northern Rhône style, appropriately labelled syrah.

The Wine Front – There’s a curious smell of neoprene here, or bicycle inner-tube, aside that there’s cherry and raspberry, charcoal briquettes, cassia bark, and some dried rose and mint perfume. It’s medium-bodied, dried cherry and pomegranate, a smoky and smudgy feel to tannin, quite savoury and autumnal, with a spiced tobacco finish of good length. Nice wine. Fleshy and flavoursome, with a little tamarillo/sweet tomato tang to close.

James Halliday – "96 Points. Fruit from eight vineyards across the Barossa and Eden valleys, anywhere from 10-60% whole bunches depending on the batch, 3 weeks on skins and all French oak, 45% new. The wine stands out. Spice, fruit, pepper and wood smoke flavours explode onto the palate and ramp the seduction from there. It's both supple and fresh, but the fruit power is obvious. In short, it's really good. 14.5% alc. To 2034. - Campbell Mattinson, Halliday Wine Companion 2020.

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

World Wine – 97 Points - Jane Skilton MW

World Wine – "Lustrous deep ruby. Bright sour-cherry nose with savoury, minerally notes and what smells like a note of oak. Fantastic balance between succulent fruit, lots of juicy acidity and gripping but ripe tannins. Tactile fireworks." Walter Spencer (jancisrobinson.com)

The Wine Front – An encouraging bronze tint to the colour. Musk perfume, peach, lychee and pear, a little spice. Juicy lychee and pear flavours, balanced acidity, some pleasing chalky texure, nice crunch and sweetness on the finish. Lovely. Fine balance. Easy to enjoy. A very strong release.

James Halliday – Complex, rich and layered, black and red fruits provide the mosaic of flavours. The tannin and oak management can't be faulted. A lovely wine at a bargain basement price.

World Wine – "#1 New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc "A full-bodied Sauvignon that fills the mouth with an array of fresh fruit flavors, from Braeburn apples and lemon to pineapple and green capsicum. There's good substance here, giving you something to get your teeth into while the acidity creates an energy almost like a headlight's full beam turned on in your mouth. Bloody good." - Rebecca Gibb MW (Vinous)

Huon Hooke – "From the well-drained fertile soils of Dillons Point. Rich, concentrated sauvignon blanc with green capsicum, passionfruit, subtle box hedge flavours and a pleasing saline-mineral character. Good purity and mouth-watering, fruity acidity." - Bob Campbell (The Real Review)

The Wine Front – "While juicy and thick set it has a good deal of fruit, spice and herbal information, both perfume and palate does dark cherry, choc-mint, sage leaf, blood orange – with fine, firm, al dente tannin in the vein of nerello mascalese or similar. It’s a brooding and deep red, chewy and potent but with levity on its side. Charming in the moodier frame." - Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)

The Wine Front – You can buy with confidence. This hits the nail on the head. It’s fragrant, pretty, varietal and juicy. Drinkability as a result is writ large, though the wine’s fine/firm tannin structure suggests that it’s going nowhere in a hurry. Now or later. Strawberries, red cherries and assorted spice. Some tang but not in a sweet-sour way. Oak well in check. Dry finish with a bit of crackle and spice to it. Lovely.

James Halliday – "This is an exceptional, mid-weighted chardonnay... With wines such as these it is little wonder that Australia boasts the finest expressions of chardonnay with Burgundy." 96 Points - Ned Goodwin MW (Halliday)

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 –

The Wine Front – Grapefruit, quince, guava, green chilli, a touch of cream and smoke. Good delivery and intensity of flavour, a gentle gloss to it, but a wonderful flinty texture too, with intensity moving up a notch on the finish, which is precise and chalky. Great expression of Sauvignon. Smashed it!

James Halliday –

World Wine – Wild yeast fermented in a concrete tank, though a portion goes into barrel. Bottled without fining and with limited filtration. Almost always a handy wine, this one. This has body. It has flavour. It's almost plump with fruit. And yet it slides down to an elegant, gravelly, throaty finish. A bit of style, without getting ahead of itself. Puts dinner on the plate first and only thereafter works at prettying it up, so to speak.

James Suckling – A firm and silky red with cherry, dried flower and orange peel aromas and flavors. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins and a fresh and focused finish. Needs a little time to soften but I already enjoy the energy here.

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – The Fèlsina 2021 Chianti Classico Berardenga has a spicy or crunchy side that I often find with Sangiovese. There is a lot of fruit brightness here with cassis, red cherry, mineral, dried tobacco and grilled rosemary. This is an easy-drinking Tuscan red with the natural acidity and brightness to pair with a classic lasagna or eggplant parmigiana.

World Wine – “…a supremely suave and stylish pinot noir with layers of cherry, berry, violet, five-spice, anise, struck-flint and nutty oak flavours. Fruit sweetness, gentle acidity and fine tannins marry into each other to give the wine a seamless backbone. It defines elegance. “ Bob Campbell MW

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

World Wine – Fresh, creamy and concentrated Gewürztraminer, with classic varietal flavours including Turkish Delight, lychee and potpourri. A lovely wine with old-vine intensity. Should develop well with bottle age. 95 points. Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review

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)