Stocks are severely limited on a couple of these wines, particularly the Eisenstone, so we’ve had to make this one a subscriber-only offer. Leading the way is Kilikanoon’s $550-a-bottle Revelation Shiraz. We’re comfortable that this is better than the 2018 Grange.
You'll also get 2 x Yaldara's 96 point, $250 a bottle Barossa Shiraz, packed with black and blue fruits of searing intensity. Next up, 2 x Eisenstone's Mattcheoss Vineyard Shiraz '21 - a $125 a bottle wine, one of a suite of tiny production Shiraz bottlings which have seen this winery rise from nowhere to being consistently in Huon Hooke's top 20 wineries in the country. A staggering achievement for a winery who typically releases less that 2,000 bottles of each of their wines each year.
Also coming your way, 2 x Irvine's Grand Merlot - Australia's best Merlot, year in, year out, and with a $150 a bottle price tag to match. There's 2 x Lone Palm's Hillside Shiraz, a wine which is compared to Grange in most vintages yet retails for 'just' $120 a bottle, and 2 x Dowie Doole's Architect Shiraz - tiny production meets stunning quality - one of our very favourite McLaren Vale Shiraz this year. That said, it has an apt rival in the Martins 2020, a 97 pointer with vivid fruit and a smoothness which belies its fruit intensity, there's 2 of those in this behemoth of pack as well!
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.
The 2021 Yaldara Grand is a straight Shiraz, owing to the concentration and profundity of the Shiraz fruit from this vintage. Unsurprisingly, this offers more power and concentration than any previous vintage. A massive, deep and complex expression of the best bits of the Barossa Valley. Dark chocolate, liquorice, tobacco leaf, blue and black fruits, cedar, cassis, plums, cherries, spice and plenty of cedary oak and tannins. Incredible.
Aussie Merlot doesn’t get more complex or highly awarded than Irvine’s Grand Merlot, twice recipient of the best Merlot in the world award. Recent releases are even better structured and livelier thank the oldies, and we are confident the 2018 will improve for 10 years plus. The 2018 exceeds the power and complexity of the 2017 vintage, adding a rich sheen of plum and fig to the mix of violet, blueberry, dark chocolate and five spice. Excellent acidity and plenty of fine French oak here too. Decant for several hours before drinking.
Another delicious release of Hillside Shiraz from low yielding old vineyards in Marananga and Stonewell, planted to the R6 and 1654 clones. There’s old vine fruit from Greenock, the vines so old that the clonal selection is unknown. Matured in a combination of new French and older American oak, this is a stunning Barossa Shiraz offering black fruits, blue fruits, blackberries, coffee, graphite, chocolate, minerals, liquorice, spice, blueberries, cedar and firm tannins.
Just 1,600 bottles produced from old vines located on the western side of Greenock Creek. 50% new French oak. Minimal intervention. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. There's graphite, tar, spice, incredibly dense black fruits and a mix of French oak and fruit tannins to finish. A masterpiece.
97pts Sam Kim, 96pts Ken Gargett, 96pts Kim Brebach, 96pts Winestate Magazine, Gold - CWSA
The Martins has maintained the exceptionally high standard it set with the 2018 vintage. Fruits are blacks and blues, with blueberries, blackberries, olive tapenade, cedar and vanilla populating a powerful and long palate. The tannins are polished, waxy and plentiful. The overall package, outstanding!!
Only tiny quantities are made of the Dowie Doole Architect wines, which are the product of the finest of Dowie Doole's A-grade fruit from each vintage ('21 being an incredible vintage has elevated this even further). The '21 is exceptional, and represents a barrel selection chosen from only A-grade parcels from the old, dry-grown Blewitt Springs vineyard. There's brightness with density of blue and black fruits, cedary oak, gravelly tannins and exceptional length.
