Hickinbotham Brooks Road Shiraz Shiraz 2022
G 96
Always quite the haunting wine with exotic red berry lift and undertones of laurel, stringy bark and Aussie dried bushland. A hint of five spice, ground ginger and thyme. Tannins work effortlessly and effectively to drive this wine into the next decade of its life whilst making it very pliable for red meats and game on release. A delightfully chewy wine with lots to hold it in place and ponder on for a long while. Drink now–2035 In Praise of Shadows Akira Grenache 2024 G 96 Springs Hill vineyard in Blewitt Springs grown by Gary Whaite. Extended maceration straight to jar and aged sur lie. Only 1200 bottles made. The palest rouge in the glass, this appears fragile with tea rose, red cherries, and wild strawberries. Some steeped raspberry leaf. The palate shows its richness with ume plum and ginger spice. It’s still a light and yet very fine wine. Sandy tannins remain with some cherry skin and tangerine bitters. A wine for seared whole duck breast and
silver cutlery. Drink now–2032 In Praise of Shadows Komorebi Grenache 2024
G 96
Smart Vineyard from Clarendon, grown by Wayne Smart and made up of 75% whole bunch into 400L hogsheads. Blackberries and thorny stems, dark cherry-pit nuttiness, and caraway seed. Its elevated acidity makes for an assertive drink, almost brittle in its finite edge. Strawberries and cream on the finish, some grated nutmeg. A wine that looks at home among the most refined of drops. Drink now–2032 Karrawatta Ace of Trumps Bush Vine Grenache 2023 G 96 Here the Seaview site is showing some blackberries, kirsch and Russian cherry tea. Illawarra plum and pepperberry spice. The wine spends 12 months in 15% new oak, which allows for some rounded curves and gentle swathe of tannins. Memories of clove and cassia bark idle. There is brown loamy soils and leaf mulch savouriness. Mark Gilbert has a deft guiding hand and brings the very best of its glimmering grenache fruit to life. Stunning value for money. Drink now–2035 MMAD Blewitt Springs Chenin Blanc 2024 Fruit is hand-harvested, half-crushed, and half-whole bunch pressed. Fermented in a mix of concrete and large format oak, before maturation in French oak puncheons. A posy of daisies, yellow citrus, and white apple flesh. There is the summer breeze of scorched sand and frangipani, bright and hopeful. The brilliance of this wine is the deliberate way it moves from floral scent to sandy earth, to woven threads of creamy cotton and back to tree fruit again. Its cheese curd-like mouth feel is countered by long lines of natural acidity. It means that you never get tired of sipping it. Another successful bottling of tension, agility, and seashore minerality. Drink now–2031 G 96
South Australia Wine Guide 2026 | McLaren Vale
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