"This bombastically fruity, small-batch wine is made with minimal intervention. The color of cherry juice, it wafts ripe red summer berries and a subtle but present whole-bunch stalky note. On the light palate, an almost surprising grip of tannins comes in towards the end. It's fresh and bouncy, with just a bit of stalky savoriness on the spine. Drink now and over the next few years. - Christina PICKARD"
- Wine Enthusiast Magazine (December 2021), 90 pts
"Lubricated with 20% whole-cluster spike across the first pick and 15% the second, this mid to full weighted grenache was wild-fermented across pump-overs early and foot stomped later to attenuate the fermentation before transitioning to small tanks and French puncheons. I want to like this more than I do. Structure is achieved to acclaim, however grenache's hedonism is too subdued. Where's the kirsch? - Ned Goodwin"
- Halliday Wine Companion (August 2020), 92 pts
"From a single vineyard (Bethany) planted in 1941. No question that 2018 delivered some mighty fine Grenache in the Barossa Valley. Bright and pretty, red fruits, baked ricotta with thyme and honey, spice. It’s finely wrought and fresh, light emery tannin, raspberry and sweet strawberry, spice, blood orange and aromatic herbs playing out on a long finish. Oh, and it’s light to medium-bodied at most. Lovely."
- The Winefront (March 2020), 94 pts
"From a single vineyard of vines planted in 1941 at the foot of the Barossa Ranges, this is a ripe, concentrated Grenache that opens with evocative, densely packed aromas of cherry cola, green herbs and damp earth amidst a thicket of blackberries and a mineral core. A taut, finely structured line of chalky tannins cinches oodles of juicy, satiny fruit. There's a journey here, and it's one that will keep going for the next eight years or so. - Christina Pickard
- Wine Enthusiast (September 2023), 93 pts
- Halliday Wine Companion (May 2023), 93 pts
"This is an intriguing, full-weighted wine of compelling dry extract and savory, forceful length. Far from the archetype, or at least what I had construed that to be in these parts. Smoky and ferruginous, with aromas of Islay peat from a wild ferment and old vine je ne sais quoi. A darker brood, lathered with clove, anise, brush smoke and iodine, over the usual red fruited paradigm. The finish, biltong meaty and a tad drying. That said, this may well be reduction as the wine opens beautifully with time, boasting oodles of personality. Drink or hold. - Ned Goodwin MW"
- James Suckling (August 2023), 94 pts
