Ceccherini Cristiano

9.1

Yes elegant, but quite simple altogether
On the light side of the spectrum
If you had it side by side with the 1991 you wouldn't bet a penny on the two being the same wine, just different years
It ends long, but goes through a moment of warmth in your after taste due to the alcohol that doesn't look integrated
Funny but after a while the lingering is pleasant
At peak I would say, but it would not fear a little longer time in the bottle — 13 days ago

Peter van den Besselaar

9.1

Vintage 2016 great potential. Brushwood, chocolate. Good balance and length. Nice. — 9 days ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

At the Peter Lehmann dinner at the Downs Club. Thanks to Clintyn Barnes for bringing this 1993 from his own cellar. Quite savoury and mellow- just medium weight with fully resolved Tannins. Clintyn agreed that 1993 was not a particularly good vintage in the Barossa so this was a welcome surprise. More like the nose of an old Burgundy with forest floor sous bois characters. — 19 days ago

Austin Hohnke

9.2

Powerful Shiraz that should be bought by the case and cellared. Bold dark fruits, peppery spice, refreshing acid, and gripping tannin create excellent structure here. Though instant gratification is enticing and inevitable, the layers of this wine will reveal themselves with patience. Insane QPR from an outstanding vintage. — 8 days ago

David Schneider

9.2

Very dark and inky. Loaded with black fruit wrapped in oak. Haven’t read the tn’s but probably has a lot of new oak barrels in the mix. Very Australian but in a good way. — 6 days ago

Shay A

9.2

At 12yrs of age, this is drinking quite smooth while still retaining a bit of Aussie power. I imagine this one was quite a flavor bomb near release, but it’s balanced today. Aromatically it has cocoa powder, juicy cherries and jammy blackberries, currant, mulberries and cinnamon. Lighter bodied than expected on the palate with a clean and pure profile. Cherry smoked wood, graham cracker, ripe black cherries and just a hint of menthol and Andes mint (which I commonly get with Aussie Shiraz). Not getting any better, but will probably hold in this window for a few more years. — 19 days ago

B

10

2007 Hundred Acre. Post-Thanksgiving dinner w McC at Jar. Decanted abt 1 hr before drinking. Still huge. Comp against ‘01 Sloan. This lacked some of the finesse that the Sloan showed. This is also so massive and too young to drink. — 4 days ago

Bob McDonald

9.6

The final wine at the Peter Lehmann dinner at the Downs Club and the whole point of the dinner. Delectable: this new cuvée is called the Masterson and is a Barossa Valley Shiraz. Wine Pricing in Australia has become an arms race and this new Cuvée has set the benchmark at $1650 for a magnum - only available in magnum. This was sourced from a vineyard in the Moppa sub district of the Barossa owned by Glen Hammerling from vines planted in 1992 on original rootstocks, dry grown in deep sandy loam with ironstone over clay. The wine itself is an exercise in restraint. Matured in a large 2500 litre fourdre imparting minimal oak influence. You could happily drink this wine now or cellar for over 30 years. It is so well balanced. A brilliant wine but is it worth $1650? I think the pricing is too ambitious but the owner of Peter Lehmann, John Casella, the owner of export star, Yellow Tail, probably doesn’t care as he continues to make money from his budget line. 1458 magnums created and only 1000 released for purchase. — 19 days ago

Clive McNish

9.3

This is really great juice. On the nose, imagine a new tyre or the smell of new tennis balls when you pop the pressurised can overlaid with spice and fragrant herbs. Palate is smooth with a long finish, perfect balance of fruit, liquorice, cloves and violet candy. Shiraz from the cooler Canberra region seems to have allowed some great complexity to develop and even bring a French edge to the wine. I recommend this one. — 19 days ago

Clive McNish

9.0

Dark fruit with spice and caramel. Took some time to open up and then acid smoothed out leaving a medium jammy finish. Looks heavy in the glass, but nicely balanced nose and lighter palate than expected. — 21 days ago