13 a Bottle and Not a Dog in Sight

Initially, this feels like a story told at max volume—packed with detail but challenging to unravel. Given a few hours in the decanter, however, an engaging narrative reveals itself. Layers of black fruit, cola, cedar, black pepper, espresso and tobacco emerge, framed by robust oak and fine, raspy tannins. With time and air, a quiet complexity draws you in, urging you to listen closely. A wine destined for greatness with patience.

A rich, expansive morass of relaxed blackness, herbed with mint and splintered with cedar. Dive into a T-Bone, pull the ring on one of these, settle back and enjoy.

A polished Shiraz from a single high-altitude vineyard, picked at optimal ripeness and matured for a couple of years in mostly seasoned oak. The oak plays a subtle role—contributing texture rather than dominating with cedar, though there’s a hint of that too. Deeply flavoured with black and blue fruits, spice, and impressive concentration. Harmonious and seriously delicious.

Leasingham wines have been around since the 1890s and have been steered by a series of legendary winemakers over the years. It wasn’t until the early 70s that the Bin series kicked off, with a Bin 61 Shiraz and a Bin 56 Cab Malbec. These were both highly prized for their exceptional quality and regular ability to out-perform wines selling at 2-3 times their asking price. A few of us from WD were lucky enough to attend a vertical tasting with Tim Knappstein (one of the aforementioned and legendary Leasingham alumni) a decade or so ago and came away incredibly impressed with the quality and consistency of the wines. We looked at over 20 vintages, and everything we tasted was still showing fruit, the best of them were exceptional. So it’s a little sad that the '21 may be the last vintage of the Bin 61 Shiraz.

Lots of good stuff here, black tea, chocolate, coffee grounds, mint, plum, charcuterie, and blackberries. The overall impression is of mid-weight fruit, an even balance between softness, fine tannin and good length. Cracking value for money. Drink now through 2030.

A magical organic McLaren Vale Shiraz from the highly prized Wits End vineyard. This has a wonderful red/black fruit fragrance, dense yet luscious fruits, violet notes and excellent intensity and length. Drink with gusto now but if your preference is cellared reds, you could also put this down for a decade or more.