2023 was a much cooler year but thankfully not wet, this allowed us to leave the Shiraz grapes on the vine for as long as possible to get maximum flavour and ripeness (not over ripe though!). The season was incredibly late and is the latest I have yet to experience in the Barossa.

Handpicked grapes from an 80-year-old contoured Shiraz vineyard in Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley. Picked in the cool of the morning, 18% whole bunch with the rest whole berries destemmed into open fermenters, cold soaked before natural fermentation slowly occurring as it warmed. A long cool ferment spread over 9-10 days retaining all the lovely structure and flavour before being basket pressed into 30% new American Puncheons (500lts) with the rest seasoned USA and French where it underwent natural Malolactic fermentation.

The wine remained in this same oak for 18 months before bottling with out fining or filtration to preserve the true character of the site.

96 points Wine Orbit - This is seductively expressed on the nose, showing dark fruit richness, cake spice, star anise, cracked pepper, and toasty oak characters with a hint of mocha. The concentrated palate offers power as well as refinement, wonderfully structured by loads of silky tannins, making it both substantial and sturdy, with a sustained, flatteringly classy finish. At its best: now to 2040

95 points Wine Pilot Ken Gargett - The vines providing the fruit for this Barossa gem are from the Neldner Family Contour Vineyard, which was planted back in the 1950s. 18% whole bunches used in the ferment, the remainder whole berries. After twelve days, basket pressing into a mix of American and French oak, 15% of which was new. These vessels were then home to the wine for the next year and a half for maturation. Under Diam.

The colour is near opaque black with a magenta rim. This is big, bold and wonderfully chocolatey. A classic Barossa Valley Shiraz – plush, generous and approachable. There is good use of oak, providing attractive vanillin notes, along with typical aromas of mocha, coffee beans, leather, blackberries and cocoa powder. There is good focus and density, but the balance is so well defined that the wine seems to dance. Fine tannins, cushiony and abundant, the wine has serious length, and exhibits pleasing freshness and juiciness. It will provide pleasure for ten to twenty years. Love it.

94 points Halliday Wine Companion - Shiraz sourced from the Neldner family's '50s-planted vineyard in Seppeltsfield, 15% whole bunch, matured in American and French oak (40% new) for 18 months. Deep, resonant blackberry, black cherry and macerated plum fruits daubed with baking spices, tobacco, cedar, fruit and nut chocolate, almond blossom and earth. Weighty and pure with fine, sandy tannin support and plenty of energy for the fruit weight. Good stuff.

93 points The Wine Front Campbell Mattinson - Grown on a south-facing Seppeltsfield vineyard planted in the 1950s.This is a soft, ripe, rich shiraz. Luscious is the word. Boysenberry, saturated plums, cedarwood, candied orange and red licorice flavours tumble through the palate, filling youthful mouth with flavour as they go. It’s heady in a good way. It’s bold and ripe but impeccably fresh and, indeed, more-ish.

Harvested separately from three vineyards on the Barossa Valley floor in Ebenezer, Kalimna and Nuriootpa all planted in the 1950’s.

Picked in the cool of the morning and fermented separately. 100% whole berries destemmed into open fermenters, cold soaked for 24 hours with fermentation slowly occurring as it warmed. A long cool ferment spread over 10-12 days retaining all the lovely structure and flavour before being basket pressed into seasoned USA and French where it underwent natural Malolactic fermentation.

Deep purple hues, spicy aromatic nose with hints of rich dark fruit & perfectly integrated oak in the background. Red berry and dark fruits coated in dark cocoa, embraced with powdery tannins and integrated oak. Great length, density and structure.

Warning, this wine needs air to really show its true form!

The 2022 version is quite closed to begin with but with some time in the glass or preferably a decanter (or a long rest in the cellar) it is sublime. Same same but different to its predecessors.

Handpicked grapes from an 80-year-old contoured Shiraz vineyard in Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley. Picked in the cool of the morning, 18% whole bunch with the rest whole berries destemmed into open fermenters, cold soaked before natural fermentation slowly occurring as it warmed. A long cool ferment spread over 9-10 days retaining all the lovely structure and flavour before being basket pressed into 30% new American Puncheons (500lts) with the rest seasoned USA and French where it underwent natural Malolactic fermentation.

The wine remained in this same oak for 18 months before bottling with out fining or filtration to preserve the true character of the site.

96 points - Wine Orbit Sam Kim MW

94 points - The Wine Front

There’s substance here, as you’d expect, but there’s also softness, and structure, and a well sustained finish. The flavour profile is fairly straightforward, with red licorice, plum, clove and kirsch characters given a gently rusty inflection by ferrous top notes, and a touch of salt too. This is a cushiony wine, built with firm bones. It will woo.

94 points - James Suckling

A contemporary rendition of the full-bodied and dense Barossan archetype, distinguished by apt tannin management and an admirable sense of composure. The oak tannins melt into the dried kelp, licorice, clove, pepper and dark fruit notes. An impeccably polished wine, demonstrating the diversity of the bottlings from this region. Drinkable now, but best from 2028.

94 points - Halliday Wine Companion:

Sourced from the '50s-planted Neldner Family Vineyard in Seppeltsfield, 18% whole bunch, pressed to 20% new French oak, the balance in seasoned French and American oak for 18 months. A rich, traditionally proportioned Barossa shiraz with ripe plum and berry fruits, baking spice, fruitcake, tobacco leaf, cedar, fruit-and-nut chocolate, violets and earth. Velvety and long of finish with fine, dusty tannins and wood-spice-dusted berry fruits.