Shiraz Syrah

Wine Spectator – Juicy notes of ripe black cherry and spiced plum are thick and velvety, oozing with details of baking spices, tobacco and Earl Grey tea on the finish. Concentrated and complex. The thick tannins add some charm. Drink now through 2030.

World Wine – The gorgeously perfumed bouquet shows Black Doris plum, sweet raspberry, violet, olive and toasted almond characters with a whiff of fragrant spice. The palate is concentrated, focused and delightfully flowing with outstanding depth and intensity, while remaining elegant and poised, leading to an extremely long expansive finish. Harmonious, seamless and flawlessly precise. Combining exquisite refinement and undeniable power, this latest offering is another stunning beauty under this iconic label. Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

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.

The Wine Front – Cherry and mixed berries, a whiff of spice and dill, vanilla and toast. Medium bodied, confident in its delivery of classic Barossa Shiraz flavour, has a certain lightness with gently juicy fruit mixed in with umami flavour, fine-grained tannin, well-pitched acidity and a satisfying finish.

The Wine Front –

World Wine – A full array of foresty berry fruits here again, all layered in neat, fitted together with the precision and detail of an expert joiner; this has impressive polish. The fruit aromas run through red, blue and dark tones, chocolate and liquorice, a hint of spice.

The Wine Front – Plum and blue fruits, peanuts in dark chocolate, plenty of spice, touch of stalk and meaty funk, with a subtle floral perfume. Medium bodied, silky and well knit, with fine grained graphite tannin, balanced acidity, and an even finish of good length.

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 –

Antonio Galloni/Vinous – ‘Brilliant ruby-red. Spice-accented dark berry, cherry pit and succulent flowers on the perfumed nose. Fleshy and broad in the mouth but lively as well, offering sappy black raspberry and bitter cherry flavors that become sweeter with air. Closes gently tannic, with very good energy and persistence, leaving a spicecake note behind. Drink 2018- 2022.’

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.

The Wine Front – In excellent form, as is the entire Scorpo range. White pepper melts into black cherry-plum and woodsmoke. Offers a good burst of ripe fruit but it's characterised by its pepperiness. Spicy tannin spins through the finish. I can't recall a better Scorpo shiraz.

James Halliday – This is almost black, with a shot of red/purple. It's not a wallflower. There are plenty of steadfast grainy tannins reined in by a ribbon of acidity. Smells great, tastes even better: black cherries, exotic spices plus sumac, the flavours are intense and satisfying. It opens up more and more, revealing a gloss across the full-bodied palate. Jane Faulkner Published 13 August 2021

The Wine Front – “The 2016 harvest was a little more challenging in terms of how the season progressed, though the end was brilliant”, says vigneron Stephen Henschke, “from quite good set in the vines, mild Spring, heat in Summer, it set the 2016s up for quite a plush structure, slightly different character to 2015s, more fruit driven, quite fruit driven, mature tannins, but lots of flavour and texture across the palate”. It still seems to be a balancing point here, not ‘Barossa Valley red wine’ in ‘style’, but characteristic of the vineyard and Eden Valley. “Edelstone classic character is spice, sage, black pepper spice, black and blueberry”, offers Henschke, “lots of complexity”. Good to keep in mind. This wine sees 80% French, 20% American oak and not much of that new. Two years in barrel. Rich, ripe scents, overlay of sandalwood and cedar, new leather and slapped sage leaf, black currants and black olive too. That perfume improves over time, more evocative, more delicious, more everything, fantastic. Slippery, sleek and fine to taste, succulent with a generous side, dark, brooding berry fruits, compote sweet and rich but with a freshness of acidity that counterbalances nicely and the word ‘purity’ comes to mind. Epic wine, so much going on, incredibly detailed and quietly powerful. Wonderful release speaking so fluently of stately old vine and intensity of fruit. Drink 2021 - 2050+ 96+ Points Mike Bennie - The Wine Front (March 2021)

James Halliday – The vineyard was planted in 1912, hand-picked, matured in 80% French and 20% American hogsheads (19% new). The vintage was challenging, but this shiraz shows no sign of that. It is full-bodied, very complex and very long, the tannins expertly massaged and drawn under the fruit. Blackberry, tar and bitter dark chocolate all contribute to what will be a very long-lived wine. Drink by 2051. 97 points James Halliday's Wine Companion (March 2020)

The Wine Front – Spicy, peppery, medium weight and slinky red of great personality and light, fine tannin, good gentle grip. Good length, mellow feel, just lovely.

James Halliday – Savoury from start to finish, a little smoky and reductive, yet well fruited throughout. This is an excellent early-drinking release, full of character and verve.