Adelaide Hills Wine Guide 2025

First Drop Wines Moderno Barbera Barbera 2023

Heirloom Alcazar Castle Pinot Noir 2023

G 92

G 92

Blue fruits and crushed allspice, mid-depth purple colour in the glass, herbal lifts, juicy flavours in the blue-berry spectrum. A pretty and fresh style, easy drinking, medium bodied, all the contemporary attractions. 13% alc Drink now–2030

Medium-light crimson. Intensely perfumed, dark cherry, beetroot, black tea and a sprinkling of sage and thyme. A concentration of fruit with a backbone of spice. Wonderful impact, pace and length – the wine glides across its velvety tannins. A Pinot of opulence. Drink now–2032 Honey Moon Vineyard Extra Pinot Noir 2019 G 92 Crimson with a garnet hue. Deep and brooding, a stamp of age on the nose – ripe plum, pomegranate, treacle, cedar and wet clay. There is an undeniable plushness to this wine coupled with lovely mid palate viscosity. Feathery tannins and a light charriness on the finish, that together are most pleasant. Ageing gracefully. Drink now–2028 Honey Moon Vineyard Exceptional Shiraz Shiraz 2019 G 92 Rich and storied style, starting to show some development now, deeply flavoured with softly-hewn fruit and a Chesterfield leatheriness threading its way into the palate. Lovely supportive structures, settling tannins – definitely in its zone at five years of age and worth exploring for that alone. 14.7% alc Drink now–2030 Honey Moon Vineyard Sparkling Shiraz Sparkling 2020 G 92 Demure nose, its maturity a benefit here. Savoury elements in play, making this a more sophisticated Sparkling Shiraz style without shirking on varietal character and palate fruit sweetness. Sit back on the Chesterfield and enjoy. 14% alc Drink now–2028

G 92

Medium lemon with golden hue. Lemon curd, brazil nuts, freshly cut Granny Smith apple and a whisper of nougat. Beautiful concentration with a fine mousse and appealing autolytic flavours starting to show. A layered Sparkling with a nutty maltiness and brandy snap complexity. Displaying a rich liqueur-like finish in a

confident aged style. Traditional method. Drink now–2030 Greenhill Wines Tussie-Mussie Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot Cabernet-Merlot 2022

G 92

Attractive Cabernet aromas, a backdrop note of eucalypt, sweet crushed berries to the fore. Medium weighted, bright and perky in the palate, good flavour with sweeter plum-like fruit in play – thank the Merlot for that. Varietal tannins bring the wine to a savoury conclusion. Nice style. 13.2% alc Drink now–2030 Greenhill Wines Strawberry Fields Pinot Noir Rosé Brut Sparkling 2021 G 92 Pale pink, strawberry and sourdough aromas, with red apple and berry flavours with a delicate twist of breadiness after close to two years on lees. It’s crunchy with freshness, and retains its strawberry-like flavours. A lovely, single Pinot style. 12% alc Traditional method Drink now–2030 Hahndorf Hill The Foundling Saint Laurent 2021 G 92 Medium crimson. Lifted plum, tobacco spice, crushed gravel with a hint of violet. Met with an immediate juiciness on the palate, there is remarkable freshness of fruit for 2021; this wine is alive. Well integrated tannins work behind the scenes to create a supple framework that manoeuvres both acid and flavour. A wine to expand your vinous repertoire. Drink now–2030 Heirloom Assen’s Fortalice Chardonnay 2023 G 92 Lemon imbued with gold. Ripely scented; an assortment of stone fruits, marzipan, orange essence, hints of halva and a mineral edge. Voluminous yet supple, there retains a purity on the palate from unadulterated fruit – yellow nectarine, peach and the juicing of lemon. With a fine-textured creaminess, the finish sees the marriage between vanilla halva and ocean spray. Supported by a long spine of acidity, the wine holds good shape and varietal integrity. Drink now–2030

Jericho Fumé Blanc Sauvignon Blanc 2021

G 92

Spicy, nutty tangy to begin – lots of interest, with lovely flavours developed from 18 months on lees, and 50% new French oak in the winemaking, building texture and spicy flavours, peppery in some senses, with clean-cut styling and fulfilling finish.

13.5% alc Drink now–2028 K1 by Geoff Hardy Shiraz Shiraz 2020

G 92

Classic plum, oak, dark spice characters greet the first pass here, promising mouth- filling generosity in a traditional expression, and that’s exactly what you get, all well integrated and neatly showcased Shiraz, medium- to fuller-bodied, with plenty to please. 14.5% alc Diam. Drink now–2032

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The Vintage Journal – Regional Focus

South Australia 2024

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