Rare & Refined Baker's Dozen

Just 1,725 bottles were made of this incredible Shiraz made from the best parcels of fruit grown by Kilikanoon in 2018 and only 29 of these were signed by the winemaker. Complex and refined, this wine offers blueberries, blackberries, cherry, dark chocolate, incredible quality French oak, effusive acidity and perfectly modulated tannins. It has massive fruit intensity but is so well balanced it drinks well already AND will cellar for 20 years plus.

Unequivocally the finest of the five vintages of Revelation that have been released between 2010 and 2024, this is made in tiny quantities; fewer than 3,000 bottles were produced of this flagship Kilikanoon Shiraz and of those, only 29 were signed by the winemaker.

The Inspiration

In 1842, 28 Silesian families arrived in the Barossa, bringing with them generations of viticultural wisdom. They settled in Bethany, purchased land from George Fife Angas, and laid the foundations of what would become one of the world’s great wine regions. Today, their descendants still tend the ancient vines of the Valley.

Dave Powell’s 2021 ‘The Silesian’ is a tribute to these pioneers—a wine steeped in history and crafted with reverence.

Made From: Greenock Shiraz

Aromas and Flavours: Dark cherry, meat, violets, spice

Drink if you like: Hently Farm Clos Otto Shiraz

Awards: 95 Wine Front, 94 Halliday

The Wine Front's Hot Take: Far Out. This is outstanding ... lusty, gnarly older vine depth and then energetic and vibrant in the same breath. The bottle went, mea culpa

This is fermented in oak and held on skins for months prior to finishing maturation in oak. The oak, is merely supportive, the fruit weight and skinsy tannins holding sway, the structure incredible. Double decant. Once you've done that a glorious perfume and fruit emerge, with plum, blackberries. dark cherries, pepper, liquorice, clove and earth emerge, the fruit sweetness checked perfectly by fruit tannin and a faint, complexing bitterness. Already superb, this will become incredible with cellaring.

5g, refers here to grams per litre, aka the dosage is 5 grams per litre of sugar, which is both quite low and reflective of the quality of fruit required to allow this, while also producing a Champagne which does not taste sour or hard. 50% of this comes from reserve wine and is aged on lees in bottles for up to 4 years prior to disgorgement. The blend is 85% Meunier and 15% Pinot Noir. We found yellow stone fruits, dried white flowers, and even a suggestion of matcha tea here. This is fresh, rich and complex in a way that makes you feel deeply curious as to how they made such a superbly engaging Champagne that both evokes the region so strongly, and yet stands apart from other Champagnes of the region so clearly.

Made From: Single site sandy soil Grenache

Aromas and Flavours: Cherries, red fruits, spice, slate plum

Drink if you like: Alkina Grenache

Awards: 95 Halliday, 94 Wine Front

The Wine Companion's Hot Take: Far Out. Beautifully composed, pure ... a bright mineral cadence, it's a ripper.

McLaren Vale might be considered the best place on earth for straight Grenache, but this wine and others show the Barossa has drawn level. This is single site, sandy soil, 100% whole bunch Grenache fermented in a combo of cement tank and older French oak. It is complex, densely layered yet lean on opening and fruit driven once you decant. There's spice and red fruits aplenty, ginger, florals, fine but plentiful tannins and a gorgeous minerality. Magnificent.

Made primarily from Pinot Noir, and with a very low dosage, this is incredibly expressive, with creaminess, citrus, and cinnamon. The natural fruit power and richness give way to minerality a creamy mousse and an exceptionally long finish.

Little surprise that the fruit comes entirely from special sites, or ‘lieu-dit’ within Bouzy. The Pinot from lieu-dit Les Juliennes and the Chardonnay from lieu-dit La Goutte d’Or.

So much power here that Jancis Robinson MW notes you could consider drinking this with a steak!