Barossa Valley
Barossa Valley is a renowned wine region located in South Australia, known for producing exceptional Shiraz, Grenache, and Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The region's warm climate and unique soil conditions provide ideal growing conditions for these grape varieties.
One of the most famous vineyards in Barossa Valley is the Penfolds Winery, known for its iconic red wines, including Grange Shiraz and Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz. The estate is committed to sustainable farming practices and is known for its focus on traditional winemaking techniques.
Another well-known vineyard in Barossa Valley is the Henschke Estate, which has been producing wines in the region since 1868. The estate produces a range of high-quality wines, including Hill of Grace Shiraz and Mount Edelstone Shiraz, and is known for its commitment to sustainable farming practices.
The Yalumba Winery is another famous vineyard in Barossa Valley, which has been producing wines in the region since 1849. The estate produces a range of high-quality wines, including The Signature Cabernet Shiraz blend and The Virgilius Viognier, and is committed to sustainable farming practices.
In addition to these famous vineyards, Barossa Valley is home to many other wineries that produce exceptional wines. The region is particularly known for its Shiraz wines, which are characterized by their full-bodied, ripe fruit flavors, and robust tannins.
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Barossa Valley
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The Rockford Rod & Spur Shiraz Cabernet 2019 is an exquisite blend, hailing from the esteemed Rockford winery nestled in South Australia's iconic Barossa Valley. This remarkable wine showcases the perfect marriage of Shiraz's hearty spice with the strength and structure of Cabernet Sauvignon. Produced through traditional basket pressing, the Rockford Rod & Spur Shiraz Cabernet 2019 highlights the winemakers' commitment to preserving artisan winemaking methods. Its luscious palate exhibits abundant ripe blackcurrant, plum, and hints of chocolate with an elegantly spiced finish, revealing layer after layer of intense, complex flavours. Rockford’s dedication to quality and respect for time-honoured techniques results in an exemplary wine, reflective of its authentic Barossa roots – making the Rockford Rod & Spur Shiraz Cabernet 2019 a must-have for any serious collector or those seeking the decadent indulgence of a truly premium South Australian wine.
Inc. TAX€121.15 -
(12x75cl) 2005Wine Advocate (96)
The 2005 Shiraz “Heysen” is a blend of three vineyards. It was aged in 40% new French oak, 20% new American oak, and the balance neutral French. The nose reveals wood smoke, toast, game, bacon, blueberry, and blackberry. This leads to an opulent, complex, and intensely flavored wine which merits 6-8 years in the cellar. This lengthy wine will drink well through 2025.Inc. TAX€688.09 -
James Suckling (95)
This has very attractive, ripe-blackberry and dark-plum aromas with blueberry and earthy, spicy notes, too. There’s composure and concentration on the palate, showing very even-paced tannin and fruit. Full-bodied, yet balanced. Long, blackberry and blueberry flavors. The tannins hold long and smooth. Drink or hold. Screw cap.Inc. TAX€277.43 -
Halliday Wine Companion (90)
Super-ripe fruit, yet vibrant, with plenty of richness across the palate.Inc. TAX€553.87 -
Vinous (92+)
(64% mataro and 36% old-vines shiraz) Dense ruby. Explosive bouquet of spiced cherry, plum, blackberry, creme de cassis, roasted coffee and cured meat. Mouthfilling, dense and verging on sweet, but with impressive structure and youthful tannins. Sexy oak spices add sweetness to the finish. A deeply concentrated, weighty wine that's wound-up right now and needs at least three years of cellaring.Inc. TAX€411.34 -
(6x75cl) 2020James Suckling (98)
The Eden Valley fruit gives a unique cool fruit character of blue fruits, iron and white pepper. Granite. Medium to full body, with tight and integrated skin tannins and a gunpowder undertone. Fantastic length. A little closed now. Drink after 2025.Inc. TAX€590.87 -
Wine Advocate (96-98)
Mint, sage and thyme accent blackberry and black cherry fruit in the 2018 The Schubert Theorem Shiraz. Full-bodied and rich without being heavy, it finishes tremendously long, with silky, cocoa-powder-like tannins. It should drink well for a couple of decades.Inc. TAX€785.54 -
James Suckling (99)
Unbelievable! Another insane wine. The length of this is endless. The blue fruits and Asian spices are mind-blowing. It’s medium- to full-bodied with a mouth full of polished and refined, creamy tannins. It goes on for minutes. Endless. Seamless and gorgeous. Leave this for years ahead if you can keep your hands off it. Better after 2025.Inc. TAX€568.34 -
Wine Advocate (98+)
I'm excited to taste this, as it was my favorite cuvée last year. It usually changes year to year, given the seasons, and I like that. It's usually the only cuvée to enjoy the benefits of an alternate vessel—a concrete egg—and this year, the 2022 The Schubert Theorem Shiraz joins the Relic and the Standish as well. The impact of the egg in this wine is one of refinement, or so I see it; it retains a purity of fruit at the core, which speaks to the chalky tannins that spool through the finish. They're chewy and seductive and really great. It's a beautiful release—not shimmering like the 2021, but textural and fine and elongated in its way. It's a beguiling wine, a thinking wine. And, as with the other wines tasted alongside, the bottle that has been open for two days is infinitely more complete; however, it must be noted that this review is built on the freshly opened bottle.Inc. TAX€722.29 -
Vinous (90)
(aged for 30 months in three-year-old French oak; this fruit at one point was allegedly purchased by Penfolds for its Grange bottling) Full ruby. Porty, superripe aromas of black cherry, crushed blackberry and gunflint. Fat, sweet, superripe and highly concentrated, with liqueur-like flavors of black fruits, dark chocolate and nuts. Not quite thick but its port-like ripeness will be a bit extreme for some tasters. Fans of this style will love it. (Epicurean Wines, Seattle WAInc. TAX€602.14 -
(3x150cl) 2006Wine Advocate (95)
The 2006 Shiraz was sourced from a single parcel of 98 year old vines yielding a minuscule 0.5 tons of fruit per acre. It was aged for 36 months in seasoned French oak. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it offers up a superb, room-filling bouquet of cigar box, baking spices, smoked meat, lavender, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. On the palate this harmonious, velvety-textured effort is voluptuous, full-flavored, succulent, and exceptionally long. It has enough structure to evolve for 4-6 years but will be hard to resist early on. Its prime drinking window will extend from 2014 to 2026.Inc. TAX€976.79 -
Wine Advocate (98-100)
The 2018 The Standish Shiraz (a sample blend from barrel) is a bit stalky (it's about 50% whole cluster), but it's gorgeously perfumed, with hints of herbal tea, raspberries, blackberries and licorice. It just exudes complexity, while also being full-bodied, plush and creamy, with a long, elegant finish. This seamless beauty is a candidate for perfection.Inc. TAX€150.84 -
Wine Advocate (98-100)
The 2018 The Standish Shiraz (a sample blend from barrel) is a bit stalky (it's about 50% whole cluster), but it's gorgeously perfumed, with hints of herbal tea, raspberries, blackberries and licorice. It just exudes complexity, while also being full-bodied, plush and creamy, with a long, elegant finish. This seamless beauty is a candidate for perfection.Inc. TAX€673.43 -
James Suckling (98)
Such concentrated blueberry and cherry aromas, as well as violets and fresh-earth aromas. This delivers an immediate sense of richness with chocolate in the mix, too. Very pure. The palate has a very resolved feel with deep, essence-like fruit flavors that hold a rich, plum and blackberry line that drives long and very even. This is really something. Drink over the next decade.Inc. TAX€565.94 -
Wine Advocate (96)
The 2020 The Standish Shiraz was made with fruit from the Laycock family vineyard, in Greenock. The first vintage was 1999. This vintage saw 30% whole bunches in the ferment. It offers notes of red dirt, a bit of blood, salted heirloom tomato and satsuma plum. This is concentrated, compacted, plush, dense and muscular, with notes of ras el’hanout, allspice, torched cinnamon and salted Dutch licorice. This wine is like playing "Magic Eye." There’s a lot going on, but if you relax, a pattern emerges and the detail becomes obvious for all to see. Within the fine but plushly tannic frame, there is saltbush and bay leaf, exotic spice and cascading layers of berry fruits. The dirt in which the roots are entangled similarly shows its colors—and these are red, ochre, earth and dust. At first glance, the foolish and the rash will overlook this for being singularly muscular and full-bodied, but like all the best IYKYK (if you know, you know—wink wink) scenarios, there is far more than meets the palate here. Another blockbuster Standish.Inc. TAX€568.34 -
Wine Advocate (98)
The 2022 The Standish Shiraz is again providing me with the opportunity to assess bottles two days apart, and how different they are. The freshly opened bottle, as we would all experience upon our first opening, is tight and fresh, with cracked fennel seed, black peppercorns, cumin and ras el'hanout, then dried blueberries and licorice, hints of arnica and raspberry. It's cool and mineral, with a graphite finish. I cannot overstate how much better the wine tastes after two days. All of the edges smooth out, and it is composed and complete ... what a wine. Balance and harmony in a single swoop. It's savory, though. Super.Inc. TAX€720.41 -
Wine Advocate (99)
The 2020 The Relic Shiraz-Viognier is made with fruit from the Hongell family vineyard in Krondorf, with 15% to 20% whole bunches in the ferment and 1% Viognier skins co-fermented. This is the best I’ve seen it. There’s something about the combination of the hot year and the diminished yields—it has recoiled and recompressed the Viognier on top of and into the Shiraz and brought them into balance/harmony. Beneath its floral and stone fruit guiles is a pool of savory, muscular, red-dirt Shiraz. There is bacon fat and pure berry fruit and spice for days… I’ve recently looked at a previous vintage of this wine alongside an older but immaculate Chateau d’Ampuis, and while their origins were clear in the glass, the Relic proved an Australian perspective more than relevant. The balance between the varieties—and the classic push/pull of sweet and savory—is more harmonious this year than in any I can remember, and the only thing I am more excited about when I consider this wine is what I will say next year, through the lens of an excellent, cool and elegant year. What a fine pair they will make.Inc. TAX€571.94 -
Wine Advocate (98+)
The 2022 The Relic Shiraz-Viognier contains 2% Viognier skins, and this addition presents in this vintage as a core of raspberry and pomegranate. It is pure fruited and powerfully aromatic, as this cuvee always is. Interestingly, I am tasting this wine from two different glasses: one opened two days ago, one opened this morning. They are quite different, telling us once again that oxygen really is a friend to this producer, especially if choosing to drink these wines young. While the bottle opened two days ago is complete, balanced and utterly refined, it speaks more of its florals and fruit than it does its savory register of spice and complexity. However, the wine opened today has nuances of bacon fat and exotic spice. It is tightly coiled and springy and nowhere near as giving as the former. So, choose your own path. This vintage is a prettier, finer but no less long or coiled version of itself, and it will prove to be one of the greats in the cellar. The tannins certainly are a highlight for me. Built for age but also, in the framework of this beautiful season, absolutely available to you right now. An effortless beauty, here.Inc. TAX€586.34 -
(6x75cl) 2005Wine Advocate (93)
The 2005 Alexander Laing Old Vines Grenache was sourced from 100-year-old vines in the Greenock subregion of Barossa. Dark ruby-colored, it has a complex bouquet of damp earth, sage, smoked herbs, espresso, cassis, and kirsch. Velvety-textured with superb depth, it also has well-concealed tannins which will allow the wine to evolve for another 4-6 years. It has a pure, 45-second finish. This outstanding Grenache will drink well through 2020.Inc. TAX€241.88 -
(6x75cl) 2005Wine Advocate (94)
There are 2000 cases of 2005 Emigre, a blend of six grape varieties sourced from a range of Barossa sites designed to reflect a “palate” of the Valley. The blocks were cropped at 1 ton of fruit per acre. The composition of the blend is 30% Shiraz, 30% Grenache, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Mourvedre, with the balance Carignan and Muscadelle. The wine was aged from 18-20 months in new French oak. It offers a complex aromatic array of smoky oak, damp earth, pencil lead, clove, pepper, cassis, and blueberry. Supple-textured and very intense, the wine exhibits spicy red and black fruits, with hints of mint and chocolate in the background. It is layered, opulent, and long while maintaining its elegant personality. Give it 5-7 years in the cellar and drink it through 2025.Inc. TAX€334.28 -
(6x75cl) 2006Vinous (92)
Ruby-red. Intensely floral aromas of fresh red berries, candied cherry and Asian spices. Silky in texture, with midweight raspberry and cherry flavors, tangy mineral bite and late-arriving tannins. Very appealing now, but balanced to reward patience. This is really elegant.Inc. TAX€299.64 -
(12x75cl) 2005Vinous (93)
Inky violet. Minty cassis and blackberry on the nose, with an array of floral, herbal and mineral qualities adding interest. Deep and sweet but structured, with powerful dark berry and bitter cherry flavors, firm tannic grip and superb finishing thrust. Gains in sweetness with air but remains balanced, offering a beautifully judged interplay of fruit and tannin.Inc. TAX€359.96 -
(1x150cl) 2001Wine Advocate (95)
No RunRig was made in 2000. The 2001 RunRig features six single vineyards, an increase from the two or three that went into the RunRig wines from the 1990s. The nose is more restrained than the previous wines, and the palate is as well, with an undeniable power that surges through the finish. This is tightly wound and closed for the most part, with length that continues long after the wine is gone. This bodes well for its future. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.Inc. TAX€484.39 -
Halliday Wine Companion (96)
Deep colour and hue; highly fragrant, spiced blackberry aromas; the intensity of flavour hits the mouth like a gale, the inbuilt tannins neither hard nor dry. Controlled oak. The '04 should be celestial. Cork.Inc. TAX€560.63 -
Halliday Wine Companion (96)
Deep colour and hue; highly fragrant, spiced blackberry aromas; the intensity of flavour hits the mouth like a gale, the inbuilt tannins neither hard nor dry. Controlled oak. The '04 should be celestial. Cork.Inc. TAX€1,445.48 -
(6x75cl) 2004Wine Advocate (99)
The 2004 RunRig essentially typifies everything I love about the 2004 vintage in Barossa. It has energy and focus, softness where it matters and length above all. The texture of this wine on the palate is superb—silky, seamless, long, gracious. This is balanced, harmonious, sensational. That's about all that needs to be said about this. It is absolutely excellent and aging slowly. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.Inc. TAX€1,365.59 -
Wine Advocate (96+)
The 2015 RunRig is dark and brooding, with tar and resin, asphalt and tapenade. In the mouth, the fruit is sweet, feathered by vanilla pod and medjool date, mulberry, blood plum and sweet licorice. The length is phenomenally long, and the future will be just as long. The wine is so closed at this stage, and yet it has all the hallmarks required for long aging. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.Inc. TAX€1,161.34 -
Vinous (96)
Inky ruby color. Expansive aromas of dark fruit liqueur, incense, candied flowers, Indian spices and vanilla. Has a smoky mineral quality that gains strength as the wine opens up. Fleshy, sweet and broad on the palate, offering impressively concentrated yet lively blackcurrant, boysenberry and violet pastille flavors that are lifted and sharpened by a smoky mineral flourish. Smooth, seamless and appealingly sweet on an extremely long, floral-dominated finish that"s framed by suave, well-knit tannins.Inc. TAX€1,556.87 -
Wine Advocate (99)
The 2018 RunRig is perfectly eloquent of the 2018 vintage. It was warm and dry, and the reds produced both in Barossa and Eden Valleys were of very high quality. Here, the 2018 could be stylistically compared to 2016, however the 2018 offers tremendous chisel and definition of both the tannins and the nuanced fruit profile. This is a brilliantly polished and sleek wine that, while approachable and ready for drinking now, offers none of the gracious complexity that it will no doubt develop with patient cellaring. Should you wish to see the potential of this wine, plan to open a bottle in 2040. Should you feel impatient, opening a bottle now will suffice—it is very good today. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.Inc. TAX€1,570.54 -
Wine Advocate (96+)
The 2019 RunRig hails from a hot, dry vintage, and the wine here is brooding, structurally firm and savory. The wine is thoroughly black, both in the glass and in its nature—black fruit, black spice, brooding tannins. While the 2018 may be open for business now, this should remain closed for some time yet—2030 as a minimum would be the recommendation. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.Inc. TAX€1,306.54
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The Rockford Rod & Spur Shiraz Cabernet 2019 is an exquisite blend, hailing from the esteemed Rockford winery nestled in South Australia's iconic Barossa Valley. This remarkable wine showcases the perfect marriage of Shiraz's hearty spice with the strength and structure of Cabernet Sauvignon. Produced through traditional basket pressing, the Rockford Rod & Spur Shiraz Cabernet 2019 highlights the winemakers' commitment to preserving artisan winemaking methods. Its luscious palate exhibits abundant ripe blackcurrant, plum, and hints of chocolate with an elegantly spiced finish, revealing layer after layer of intense, complex flavours. Rockford’s dedication to quality and respect for time-honoured techniques results in an exemplary wine, reflective of its authentic Barossa roots – making the Rockford Rod & Spur Shiraz Cabernet 2019 a must-have for any serious collector or those seeking the decadent indulgence of a truly premium South Australian wine.
In Bond€97.00 -
(12x75cl) 2005
Wine Advocate (96)
The 2005 Shiraz “Heysen” is a blend of three vineyards. It was aged in 40% new French oak, 20% new American oak, and the balance neutral French. The nose reveals wood smoke, toast, game, bacon, blueberry, and blackberry. This leads to an opulent, complex, and intensely flavored wine which merits 6-8 years in the cellar. This lengthy wine will drink well through 2025.In Bond€535.00 -
James Suckling (95)
This has very attractive, ripe-blackberry and dark-plum aromas with blueberry and earthy, spicy notes, too. There’s composure and concentration on the palate, showing very even-paced tannin and fruit. Full-bodied, yet balanced. Long, blackberry and blueberry flavors. The tannins hold long and smooth. Drink or hold. Screw cap.In Bond€209.00 -
Halliday Wine Companion (90)
Super-ripe fruit, yet vibrant, with plenty of richness across the palate.In Bond€414.00 -
Vinous (92+)
(64% mataro and 36% old-vines shiraz) Dense ruby. Explosive bouquet of spiced cherry, plum, blackberry, creme de cassis, roasted coffee and cured meat. Mouthfilling, dense and verging on sweet, but with impressive structure and youthful tannins. Sexy oak spices add sweetness to the finish. A deeply concentrated, weighty wine that's wound-up right now and needs at least three years of cellaring.In Bond€319.00 -
(6x75cl) 2020
James Suckling (98)
The Eden Valley fruit gives a unique cool fruit character of blue fruits, iron and white pepper. Granite. Medium to full body, with tight and integrated skin tannins and a gunpowder undertone. Fantastic length. A little closed now. Drink after 2025.In Bond€470.00 -
Wine Advocate (96-98)
Mint, sage and thyme accent blackberry and black cherry fruit in the 2018 The Schubert Theorem Shiraz. Full-bodied and rich without being heavy, it finishes tremendously long, with silky, cocoa-powder-like tannins. It should drink well for a couple of decades.In Bond€631.00 -
James Suckling (99)
Unbelievable! Another insane wine. The length of this is endless. The blue fruits and Asian spices are mind-blowing. It’s medium- to full-bodied with a mouth full of polished and refined, creamy tannins. It goes on for minutes. Endless. Seamless and gorgeous. Leave this for years ahead if you can keep your hands off it. Better after 2025.In Bond€450.00 -
Wine Advocate (98+)
I'm excited to taste this, as it was my favorite cuvée last year. It usually changes year to year, given the seasons, and I like that. It's usually the only cuvée to enjoy the benefits of an alternate vessel—a concrete egg—and this year, the 2022 The Schubert Theorem Shiraz joins the Relic and the Standish as well. The impact of the egg in this wine is one of refinement, or so I see it; it retains a purity of fruit at the core, which speaks to the chalky tannins that spool through the finish. They're chewy and seductive and really great. It's a beautiful release—not shimmering like the 2021, but textural and fine and elongated in its way. It's a beguiling wine, a thinking wine. And, as with the other wines tasted alongside, the bottle that has been open for two days is infinitely more complete; however, it must be noted that this review is built on the freshly opened bottle.In Bond€578.00 -
Vinous (90)
(aged for 30 months in three-year-old French oak; this fruit at one point was allegedly purchased by Penfolds for its Grange bottling) Full ruby. Porty, superripe aromas of black cherry, crushed blackberry and gunflint. Fat, sweet, superripe and highly concentrated, with liqueur-like flavors of black fruits, dark chocolate and nuts. Not quite thick but its port-like ripeness will be a bit extreme for some tasters. Fans of this style will love it. (Epicurean Wines, Seattle WAIn Bond€478.00 -
(3x150cl) 2006
Wine Advocate (95)
The 2006 Shiraz was sourced from a single parcel of 98 year old vines yielding a minuscule 0.5 tons of fruit per acre. It was aged for 36 months in seasoned French oak. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it offers up a superb, room-filling bouquet of cigar box, baking spices, smoked meat, lavender, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. On the palate this harmonious, velvety-textured effort is voluptuous, full-flavored, succulent, and exceptionally long. It has enough structure to evolve for 4-6 years but will be hard to resist early on. Its prime drinking window will extend from 2014 to 2026.In Bond€791.00 -
Wine Advocate (98-100)
The 2018 The Standish Shiraz (a sample blend from barrel) is a bit stalky (it's about 50% whole cluster), but it's gorgeously perfumed, with hints of herbal tea, raspberries, blackberries and licorice. It just exudes complexity, while also being full-bodied, plush and creamy, with a long, elegant finish. This seamless beauty is a candidate for perfection.In Bond€122.00 -
Wine Advocate (98-100)
The 2018 The Standish Shiraz (a sample blend from barrel) is a bit stalky (it's about 50% whole cluster), but it's gorgeously perfumed, with hints of herbal tea, raspberries, blackberries and licorice. It just exudes complexity, while also being full-bodied, plush and creamy, with a long, elegant finish. This seamless beauty is a candidate for perfection.In Bond€539.00 -
James Suckling (98)
Such concentrated blueberry and cherry aromas, as well as violets and fresh-earth aromas. This delivers an immediate sense of richness with chocolate in the mix, too. Very pure. The palate has a very resolved feel with deep, essence-like fruit flavors that hold a rich, plum and blackberry line that drives long and very even. This is really something. Drink over the next decade.In Bond€448.00 -
Wine Advocate (96)
The 2020 The Standish Shiraz was made with fruit from the Laycock family vineyard, in Greenock. The first vintage was 1999. This vintage saw 30% whole bunches in the ferment. It offers notes of red dirt, a bit of blood, salted heirloom tomato and satsuma plum. This is concentrated, compacted, plush, dense and muscular, with notes of ras el’hanout, allspice, torched cinnamon and salted Dutch licorice. This wine is like playing "Magic Eye." There’s a lot going on, but if you relax, a pattern emerges and the detail becomes obvious for all to see. Within the fine but plushly tannic frame, there is saltbush and bay leaf, exotic spice and cascading layers of berry fruits. The dirt in which the roots are entangled similarly shows its colors—and these are red, ochre, earth and dust. At first glance, the foolish and the rash will overlook this for being singularly muscular and full-bodied, but like all the best IYKYK (if you know, you know—wink wink) scenarios, there is far more than meets the palate here. Another blockbuster Standish.In Bond€450.00 -
Wine Advocate (98)
The 2022 The Standish Shiraz is again providing me with the opportunity to assess bottles two days apart, and how different they are. The freshly opened bottle, as we would all experience upon our first opening, is tight and fresh, with cracked fennel seed, black peppercorns, cumin and ras el'hanout, then dried blueberries and licorice, hints of arnica and raspberry. It's cool and mineral, with a graphite finish. I cannot overstate how much better the wine tastes after two days. All of the edges smooth out, and it is composed and complete ... what a wine. Balance and harmony in a single swoop. It's savory, though. Super.In Bond€578.00 -
Wine Advocate (99)
The 2020 The Relic Shiraz-Viognier is made with fruit from the Hongell family vineyard in Krondorf, with 15% to 20% whole bunches in the ferment and 1% Viognier skins co-fermented. This is the best I’ve seen it. There’s something about the combination of the hot year and the diminished yields—it has recoiled and recompressed the Viognier on top of and into the Shiraz and brought them into balance/harmony. Beneath its floral and stone fruit guiles is a pool of savory, muscular, red-dirt Shiraz. There is bacon fat and pure berry fruit and spice for days… I’ve recently looked at a previous vintage of this wine alongside an older but immaculate Chateau d’Ampuis, and while their origins were clear in the glass, the Relic proved an Australian perspective more than relevant. The balance between the varieties—and the classic push/pull of sweet and savory—is more harmonious this year than in any I can remember, and the only thing I am more excited about when I consider this wine is what I will say next year, through the lens of an excellent, cool and elegant year. What a fine pair they will make.In Bond€453.00 -
Wine Advocate (98+)
The 2022 The Relic Shiraz-Viognier contains 2% Viognier skins, and this addition presents in this vintage as a core of raspberry and pomegranate. It is pure fruited and powerfully aromatic, as this cuvee always is. Interestingly, I am tasting this wine from two different glasses: one opened two days ago, one opened this morning. They are quite different, telling us once again that oxygen really is a friend to this producer, especially if choosing to drink these wines young. While the bottle opened two days ago is complete, balanced and utterly refined, it speaks more of its florals and fruit than it does its savory register of spice and complexity. However, the wine opened today has nuances of bacon fat and exotic spice. It is tightly coiled and springy and nowhere near as giving as the former. So, choose your own path. This vintage is a prettier, finer but no less long or coiled version of itself, and it will prove to be one of the greats in the cellar. The tannins certainly are a highlight for me. Built for age but also, in the framework of this beautiful season, absolutely available to you right now. An effortless beauty, here.In Bond€465.00 -
(6x75cl) 2005
Wine Advocate (93)
The 2005 Alexander Laing Old Vines Grenache was sourced from 100-year-old vines in the Greenock subregion of Barossa. Dark ruby-colored, it has a complex bouquet of damp earth, sage, smoked herbs, espresso, cassis, and kirsch. Velvety-textured with superb depth, it also has well-concealed tannins which will allow the wine to evolve for another 4-6 years. It has a pure, 45-second finish. This outstanding Grenache will drink well through 2020.In Bond€177.00 -
(6x75cl) 2005
Wine Advocate (94)
There are 2000 cases of 2005 Emigre, a blend of six grape varieties sourced from a range of Barossa sites designed to reflect a “palate” of the Valley. The blocks were cropped at 1 ton of fruit per acre. The composition of the blend is 30% Shiraz, 30% Grenache, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Mourvedre, with the balance Carignan and Muscadelle. The wine was aged from 18-20 months in new French oak. It offers a complex aromatic array of smoky oak, damp earth, pencil lead, clove, pepper, cassis, and blueberry. Supple-textured and very intense, the wine exhibits spicy red and black fruits, with hints of mint and chocolate in the background. It is layered, opulent, and long while maintaining its elegant personality. Give it 5-7 years in the cellar and drink it through 2025.In Bond€254.00 -
(6x75cl) 2006
Vinous (92)
Ruby-red. Intensely floral aromas of fresh red berries, candied cherry and Asian spices. Silky in texture, with midweight raspberry and cherry flavors, tangy mineral bite and late-arriving tannins. Very appealing now, but balanced to reward patience. This is really elegant.In Bond€225.00 -
(12x75cl) 2005
Vinous (93)
Inky violet. Minty cassis and blackberry on the nose, with an array of floral, herbal and mineral qualities adding interest. Deep and sweet but structured, with powerful dark berry and bitter cherry flavors, firm tannic grip and superb finishing thrust. Gains in sweetness with air but remains balanced, offering a beautifully judged interplay of fruit and tannin.In Bond€254.00 -
(1x150cl) 2001
Wine Advocate (95)
No RunRig was made in 2000. The 2001 RunRig features six single vineyards, an increase from the two or three that went into the RunRig wines from the 1990s. The nose is more restrained than the previous wines, and the palate is as well, with an undeniable power that surges through the finish. This is tightly wound and closed for the most part, with length that continues long after the wine is gone. This bodes well for its future. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.In Bond€396.00 -
Halliday Wine Companion (96)
Deep colour and hue; highly fragrant, spiced blackberry aromas; the intensity of flavour hits the mouth like a gale, the inbuilt tannins neither hard nor dry. Controlled oak. The '04 should be celestial. Cork.In Bond€459.00 -
Halliday Wine Companion (96)
Deep colour and hue; highly fragrant, spiced blackberry aromas; the intensity of flavour hits the mouth like a gale, the inbuilt tannins neither hard nor dry. Controlled oak. The '04 should be celestial. Cork.In Bond€1,180.00 -
(6x75cl) 2004
Wine Advocate (99)
The 2004 RunRig essentially typifies everything I love about the 2004 vintage in Barossa. It has energy and focus, softness where it matters and length above all. The texture of this wine on the palate is superb—silky, seamless, long, gracious. This is balanced, harmonious, sensational. That's about all that needs to be said about this. It is absolutely excellent and aging slowly. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.In Bond€1,115.00 -
Wine Advocate (96+)
The 2015 RunRig is dark and brooding, with tar and resin, asphalt and tapenade. In the mouth, the fruit is sweet, feathered by vanilla pod and medjool date, mulberry, blood plum and sweet licorice. The length is phenomenally long, and the future will be just as long. The wine is so closed at this stage, and yet it has all the hallmarks required for long aging. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.In Bond€944.00 -
Vinous (96)
Inky ruby color. Expansive aromas of dark fruit liqueur, incense, candied flowers, Indian spices and vanilla. Has a smoky mineral quality that gains strength as the wine opens up. Fleshy, sweet and broad on the palate, offering impressively concentrated yet lively blackcurrant, boysenberry and violet pastille flavors that are lifted and sharpened by a smoky mineral flourish. Smooth, seamless and appealingly sweet on an extremely long, floral-dominated finish that"s framed by suave, well-knit tannins.In Bond€1,275.00 -
Wine Advocate (99)
The 2018 RunRig is perfectly eloquent of the 2018 vintage. It was warm and dry, and the reds produced both in Barossa and Eden Valleys were of very high quality. Here, the 2018 could be stylistically compared to 2016, however the 2018 offers tremendous chisel and definition of both the tannins and the nuanced fruit profile. This is a brilliantly polished and sleek wine that, while approachable and ready for drinking now, offers none of the gracious complexity that it will no doubt develop with patient cellaring. Should you wish to see the potential of this wine, plan to open a bottle in 2040. Should you feel impatient, opening a bottle now will suffice—it is very good today. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.In Bond€1,285.00 -
Wine Advocate (96+)
The 2019 RunRig hails from a hot, dry vintage, and the wine here is brooding, structurally firm and savory. The wine is thoroughly black, both in the glass and in its nature—black fruit, black spice, brooding tannins. While the 2018 may be open for business now, this should remain closed for some time yet—2030 as a minimum would be the recommendation. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.In Bond€1,065.00
