Autumn 2024 Selection

Super Premium
Sorby Adams' 2018 "The Thing" Shiraz 
Sorby Adams' 2018 "The Thing" Shiraz presents a remarkable story of viticulture and winemaking. This wine is a blend of Shiraz from the Eden Valley and Barossa Valley, regions known for their distinctive terroir and the quality of their Shiraz grapes. The Eden Valley fruit comes from vineyards planted in 1932 by Pastor Franz Julius Lehmann, showcasing the depth and history behind this wine.

Described as a blend that brings together the best of both worlds, "The Thing" has been lauded for its rich, inky black-purple hue and a profile that boasts of dark berries, cassis, leather, mocha, plums, coffee bean, and chocolate notes. It's big, bold, and chocolatey, offering a generosity typical of the powerful Barossa Shiraz. Despite its youth, it's considered to have a promising future, with a potential aging window that stretches two decades into the future.
This wine matured for 40 months in French oak hogsheads, contributing to its complex profile and ensuring its status as a premium offering within Sorby Adams' portfolio. Its packaging—a heavy bottle with a large punt, cork, and wax covering—complements the wine's stature, underlining the care and attention to detail that has gone into its production.

Critics have awarded "The Thing" 96 points, a testament to its quality and craftsmanship. Its palate is opulent and impressively weighted, flowing seamlessly to a long, engaging finish. Dark red fruits, roasted coffee, and mocha characters are seamlessly woven into the palate, creating a spicy blackberry profile that screams Barossa and Eden Valley.

"The Thing" Shiraz is recommended to be paired with roast beef. It promises a dining experience that matches the intensity and richness of the wine. It showcases Sorby Adams's best offers and testifies to the rich winemaking heritage of the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley regions.

Premium
Eisenstone 2021 Koonunga Shiraz 
The 2021 Koonunga Shiraz SR807 from Eisenstone is an experience for the senses, starting with its rich ruby-red appearance and the orchestra of forest berry aromas. With a heart of spicy oak, it unfurls to reveal an abundant core of blackberry and blueberry; each sips a testament to the Barossa's legacy. Meticulously fermented in small lots and matured for 20 months in 50% new French oak, the winemaking is an exercise in restraint, allowing the wine's character to develop with minimal interference and no cold stabilization or filtering. It stands as a full-bodied homage to its provenance, rooted in deep loam soils over red clay caressed by a meandering creek. A limited series of 4,400 bottles, each one numbered, holds the promise of a Barossa tale that will evolve splendidly at least until 2036. Garnering a remarkable 96-point rating from Huon Hooke and celebrated by connoisseurs, this Shiraz embodies the pinnacle of Barossa's winemaking artistry.

Gumpara Wines 2020 Shiraz
The Gumpara Vineyard, situated in the Light Pass district of the Barossa Valley, has been cared for by the Mader family for seven generations. Sourced from a specially selected low-yielding single vineyard, these own-rooted Shiraz vines are grown in rich red clay, pink marble, and ironstone on a limestone base. Pruning techniques and trellis systems have been modified to spread the fruit zone evenly, providing greater balance to each vine.

Crushed and de-stemmed into open fermenters, with fermentation controlled at 25C. This developing wine is pumped over twice each day. Free run is removed from skins and the must is gently pressed via an airbag batch press. Fermentation was completed in new French oak barrels prior to malolactic conversion and aging with pressings only. The wine was matured for 18 months in new Leroi-Valley French oak hogsheads and 6 months in two-year-old French oak.

Record yield reductions arising from consecutive years of below-average winter and spring rainfall combined with a hot, dry early summer led to this stunning quality vintage. Maximum and minimum temperatures in February eased dramatically, allowing time for generous varietal fruit development.

The wine is deep purple with a Burgundy hue and a bouquet that is an intense, fresh medley of red and black berry fruits. It is flawlessly cradled with subtle French oak. The palate displays fresh Shiraz intensity alongside white pepper and raspberry and is supported with balanced oak and silky tannins. Drink now, or benefit by careful cellaring well into the next decade and beyond.

Great Wines
Glaetzer 2021 Wallace Shiraz 
The Glaetzer 2021 Wallace Shiraz Grenache presents an intriguing blend that captures the essence of the Barossa Valley's rich winemaking heritage. This wine elegantly combines Shiraz, known for its structure and depth, with Grenache, adding lively, vibrant juiciness to the mix. This blend is a modern take on the traditional, reflecting the ancestral heritage of Colin Glaetzer's wife, Judith, with the Wallace name stemming from her Scottish lineage. The wine's label bears symbols of this ancestry, including a Celtic cross, thistle, and knot pattern, symbolising the union of cultures and the rich history behind the Glaetzer wines.

The 2021 vintage is particularly noted for showcasing old vine fruit, with the Shiraz coming from 80-year-old vines and the Grenache from vines aged between 50 to 100 years. This age lends the wine a complexity and depth that is hard to find elsewhere. It's a medium to full-bodied wine, exhibiting beautifully spicy red fruit flavours. The Shiraz contributes power and presence, while the Grenache is praised for its vibrancy, making the wine remarkably detailed and expressive. The use of oak is subtle, ensuring the fruit characteristics shine through. This blend received a commendable score of 93 points from Wine Pilot, highlighting its quality and appeal.

Pindarie 2022 T.S.S. Tempranillo Sangiovese Shiraz 
Pindarie is on the western edge of the Barossa Valley, and the cellar-door experience offers great wine and outstanding views.

The Pindarie 2022 T.S.S. Tempranillo Sangiovese Shiraz is a testament to the blending mastery that highlights the distinct characteristics of each varietal, creating a harmonious and medium-bodied wine that reflects the warmth and richness of the Barossa Valley. The Tempranillo leads the charge with its lively red and dark fruit flavours and a hint of spice, supported by the savoury zest and elevated acidity of Sangiovese. At the same time, the Shiraz contributes its gentle power, enhancing the overall structure of the wine. This blend produces a wine with a beautiful bright red appearance, a perfumed nose, and a rewarding palate.

Reviewers have lavished praise on this wine, with Wine Pilot awarding it 93 points and noting its balance and approachability. The Tempranillo's lead role brings forth an abundance of dark cherries, red licorice, and spice, complemented by vanilla nuances. The wine's ripe tannins ensure a smooth flow to a long, pleasing finish, embodying Barossa Valley wines' upfront, friendly nature. It's a medium-weight wine that's full of flavour, making it difficult to stop at just one glass.

Wine Selectors adds further detail, describing the wine as having a deep ruby-purple colour with expressive aromas of dark berries, mocha, wood smoke, and exotic spices. The palate reveals layers of blackberry, mulberry, and plum, with hints of chocolate, red licorice, and warm herbs, all contributing to a velvety texture and excellent length. This T.S.S. blend is an excellent companion to a cheese and charcuterie board, promising a delightful tasting experience that captures the essence of its Barossa Valley origin.

Sorby Adams 2021 Tristan Shiraz 

The Sorby Adams 2021 Tristan Shiraz is a remarkable expression of Barossa Valley Shiraz, earning high praise from wine critics for its depth, complexity, and velvety texture. This wine presents a deep cherry red colour with a plum purple hue, offering an aromatic profile rich with blackberry and raspberry, complemented by star anise and hazelnut. On the palate, it is gratifying and succulent, showcasing blackberry fruits with a full mouthfeel and an excellent depth of flavour. The richness and velvety smooth tannins lead to a persistent finish, making it an ideal pairing for char-grilled beef with vegetables, rich slow-cooked meat dishes, or ripe cheese platters.

Ken Gargett of Wine Pilot lauds this Shiraz as a "cracking Barossa Shiraz" that is "brilliant value," highlighting its notes of chocolate and mocha, black fruits, cassis, raisins, and hints of dried fruits. The wine is praised for its seamless and supple structure, with impressive persistence and cashmere-like tannins. The recommended drinking window extends from now until ten to fifteen years from its vintage, underlining its potential for aging.

Another review from Wine Orbit by Sam Kim awards the wine a 95-point score, emphasising its richly fruited and gorgeously complex nose, with blackberry, smoked game, roasted spice, and cedary oak characters hinting at dark cocoa. The palate is satisfying and delicious, with excellent concentration and a plump mouthfeel, all wonderfully complemented by a velvety texture and beautifully integrated tannins. It is recommended that the wine be drunk well from now until 2036.