GCV McAskill Shiraz
2020

“Equal Top In Category/Eligible for WOTY. A dense and solid wine with bold, brooding and harmonious aromas and flavours of vibrant black fruits, plums and spices with tannins building nicely on the palate”

A classic Clare Shiraz here which offers exceptional value for money offering a wide array of complex fruits, some of which are hiding a little under the surface so it is worth digging. There is powerful blackberry, blueberry and savoury spice with an earthy minerality all beautifully matched with high quality oak. It’s then dry and compact; a robust, youthful wine that is all muscle right now, tightly wound for some serious drinking over the next decade or two. It’s powerful, but also understated, although the tannins are deadly serious and show this is a wine built to please over the long term. Give it at least ten years to see this really shine.

There is purity of plum and blackberry fruit, as well as floral tones on the nose; but what makes it so interesting is the faint earth and liquorice thread with time in the glass. The palate treads the line between hedonistic impact of primary fruit and the understated complexity of tannin and texture.. and it treads it well. The wine keeps building in impact over the journey with a crescendo of ripe plum, vanillin oak, liquorice strap and coffee grinds that lingers. A beautiful release.

Fruit from a single block within a single vineyard (planted 1996), grown on lean soils, rich in ironstone. Matured for 18 months in French oak (12% new). Fascinating core of scintillatingly pure purple fruit. The oak that ensconces it is dusty, toasty and laden with spice. For all the concentration in the mouth – and this is concentrated – the wine exhibits gorgeous balance and restraint. There’s a deeply attractive ferrous aroma through the finish which tops it all off. Erin Larkin

Bold and opulent, yet stylish and harmonious, this stunning rendition shows black/blueberry, thyme, cedary oak and floral aromas on the nose. The palate is equally satisfying with outstanding weight and depth, well supported by velvety texture and supple tannins. At its best: now to 2035. $55.00. www.gaeliccemeteryvineyard.com. April 2022.

Generous tannic wine. Strong colour, ripe jubey fruit bouquet and rich fruit flavours with assertive tannins.