"
Big and rich, with powerful, meaty, spicy black fruit and crème brûlée flavors that gain momentum in an open texture. The finish is framed by fine tannins and refreshing acidity on the long finish. Drink now through 2025. From Australia.—H.S."
- Wine Spectator Insider (December 17th 2014), 95 pts
"Inky purple. Heady smoke- and spice-tinged aromas of ripe black and blue fruits, licorice candy and potpourri. Lush and broad on entry, then tighter in the middle, offering sweet dark fruit flavors and a suave violet pastille flourish. Lingers with excellent tenacity on the penetrating, persistent finish, which is framed by velvety, slow-building tannins."
- Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (July / August 2014), 92 pts
"(aged in new American oak barrels for 20 months): Vivid purple. Ripe, spice-tinged black and blue fruits, mocha, vanilla and toasty oak on the assertively perfumed nose. Lush, velvety and expansive, with bright acidity adding lift to deeply concentrated cassis, blueberry and spicecake flavors. Closes sappy, smooth and very long, with excellent focus, supple tannins and lingering smokiness. - Josh Raynolds"
- Vinous (March 2016), 93 pts
"
Plush and generous, dark and expressive, focusing the blackberry, plum and floral flavors into a supple structure, coming together into a seamless finish. Has tremendous presence and persistence, with fine, beautifully submerged tannins. Drink now through 2025.—H.S."
- Wine Spectator Insider (September 16th 2015), 93 pts
"Thorn Clarke has taken its Shiraz to a new level with this single-vineyard wine, bottled only in exceptional vintages. The 100% new American oak gives this a classic Barossa profile, starting with vanilla, cedar and maple syrup-like notes and flowing seamlessly through ripe blackberry and plum flavors. It's full bodied, lush and creamy in texture, with a long, velvety finish. Drink now–2025, possibly beyond."
- Wine Enthusiast (August 2016), 96 pts + Editors' Choice
"Substantial wine in all respects. The Incredible Hulk in a glass, though a lot classier. Deep blackberry, boysenberry and coffee-cream flavour, a deep river of tannin, an aspect of brood but no lack of brightness either. It's a heavy-hitter but it's not just that; it's neat, it exercises its power both responsibly and with a form of precision, and it flies boldly through the finish as if there's not a shadow of a doubt that the future is a place where it belongs. - James Halliday"
- Australian Wine Companion (Issue 2016), 97 pts
"Intense, concentrated, toasty oak aromas follow through to a powerful, polished beast of a wine, with impressive structure and a long finish."
- Decanter World Wine Awards, SILVER MEDAL, 91 pts
