At an average north of $90 retail per bottle, these might not scream 'Friday night Pizza' but at a tick under $30 a bottle in this bundle, maybe we can make a case for it... and at a bottle a week, we've got the next 13 weeks of Friyay evenings gourmet exhalations elevated to someplace very fine indeed.
So, what will you have next Friday?
Pasha's 97 point McLaren Shiraz which had Kim Brebach in raptures, saying 'The integration of fruit and oak is as seamless as I’ve seen in an Aussie red'? Dandelion's Firehawk Shiraz- off their best McLaren Vale vineyard? Sidewood's savoury Adelaide Shiraz which iced a lazy dozen gold medals with 96 points from Halliday? Showblock's incredible Reserve Shiraz? Kilikanoon's Flagship Cabernet? Perhaps, Longview's Trophy winning Cab ... decant this one!
OR, maybe you just want to start with the Lone Palm, the big gun. Imagine Marvin Gaye reinterpreting death metal (when he was alive, obvs), or Chuck Norris taking up Tai Chi. Molten lava given the Gaviscon treatment, Chewbacca reciting 'Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day', you get the idea. It's one of those 'Iron fist in a velvet glove' jobbies - incredibly powerful and densely fruited yet so perfectly put together that it is a joy to drink already.
A varietal and regional expression of Clare Valley Cabernet with piercing clarity of fruit, which is to say, an absolute delight. Violets, blackberries, plum, sage, bay leaf, mint, liquorice, curlicues of French oak and fine, waxy, supple tannins. Off script though, because this is massive - a huge mouthful - and yet expressive, somehow elegant, with a fluidity of movement and visibility of detail which belie the hulking muscularity. Imagine a director firing Nureyev as the male lead in Swan Lake because Chewbacca auditioned better. Then pour another glass.
Less than 200 dozen were produced of this magnificently concentrated and impossibly smooth beast. The best fruit is hand selected from the lowest yielding rows of the winery's best vineyard in Marananga. This was supplemented in '23 by fruit which used to supply the incredible Magpie Estate Malcolm Shiraz. Some whole bunch and 100% whole berries are fermented slowly in open fermenters before basket pressing into French oak. Liquorice, star anise, cassis, plum, dark chocolate, blackberries, blueberries and blackcurrants can all be found here. Fruit intensity and length are profound. An utterly brilliant wine.
97pts Kim Brebach, 96pts Sam Kim, 95pts Ray Jordan, Gold AWC
Bright red fruit wrapped in the silk and spice you’d expect from a classic McLaren Vale Shiraz. Generous yet balanced, with a vibrant acidity that lifts the fruit. Layers of well-integrated oak add structure, making this a wine that will cellar beautifully for 10+ years.
2 x Gold Medals, 97pts Kim Brebach, 91pts James Halliday, 93pts The Real Review
This is just the second release of Firehawk Farm which is produced from Dandelion’s finest vineyard. There is mammoth concentration of fruit here and perfect integration of fruit, oak and acid. Closed on opening, this morphs into an absolute stunner as is breathes and opens over several days. Sweet fruit, searing acid, savoury complexities, chocolate, graphite and blue fruits are all on show along with earthiness, cedar and plenty of tannin. This might just be the McLaren Vale’s best Shiraz.
Powerful, cedary and black-fruited. A few years ago this was probably monstrous. Pleasingly, it's settling into itself, and a bit of a decant sees it drinking beautifully. Exceptional concentration of dark fruits here, along with chocolate and spice. Handpicked and basket pressed.
One of the most insane quality to price ratios on the planet. Hand tended vines are picked by a Pellenc select harvester, which pick just the absolute best fruit. 12 separate clones of Shiraz are fermented separately using wild yeast, given extended maceration on skins and matured in French oak for 15 months. Finally, only the best barrels are blended and bottled. That sounds to us like most high-end producer's $60-$100+ Shiraz. No surprise this has picked up 96 points from Halliday and 12 gold medals.
A tightly coiled Cab that needs a little coaxing by way of an hour or 2 in the decanter. While that's happening, turn your thoughts to lamb and what you might be eating in an hour or 2 when the wine is cherry ripe. Funnily enough, we found cherries here, along with blackcurrant, cocoa, tomato leaf and a plushness emerging from an intense baseline once the wine had gulped a little air. You can see the promise on opening, but post decanting, the Trophy and gold medals this wine has won make a great deal of sense.
