Halliday Wine Companion 2018
Shaw + Smith Lenswood Vineyard Chardonnay 2015
Whole-bunch pressed to new and used French puncheons for fermentation and 10 months' maturation. The bright quartz-green colour signals a wine of exceptional intensity and purity, pink grapefruit embracing white peach, oak watching on from the sideline. A truly great chardonnay.
98 points
Shaw + Smith M3 Chardonnay 2015
M3 now comes from selected sites over the Adelaide Hills, not from the vineyard previously called M3. Pale strawgreen; it may be autosuggestion, but this has great freshness, vibrancy and finesse, the flavours pitched halfway between white peach/stone fruit on the one hand, grapefruit/citrus on the other. Obviously fermented in French oak, but is not obviously oaky.
97 points
Shaw + Smith Shiraz 2015
The colour is bright, the bouquet full of red fruits, darker fruit notes and delicious pepper and spice nuances. These characters flow through to the medium-bodied palate of Shaw + Smith's most consistently outstanding wine, the '15 vintage making it seem so easy.
97 points
Shaw + Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz 2014
A joyously lively cool-grown shiraz. The bouquet is particularly fragrant and fruit-driven, the medium-bodied palate laden with black cherry, spice, licorice and pepper. Its aftertaste is exceptional, underlining the length and quality of the wine.
97 points
Shaw + Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz 2015
Matured in French puncheons for 14 months, with a further 14 months in bottle before release. This is an exercise in power, bay leaf staring down any attempt to add red fruits, the tannins of the same ilk, ditto oak. Despite the power, the balance and synergy of the components is undeniable.
97 points
Shaw + Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2016
Long accepted as the benchmark for Adelaide Hills sauvignon blanc, and you don't have to go past the bouquet to figure out why; just about every tropical fruit you can imagine is on display, from custard apple at one extreme, kiwi fruit and green pineapple at the other. It all adds up to a complete wine made to be enjoyed until the queue forms for the next release.
95 points
Shaw + Smith Pinot Noir 2015
Light crimson; the bouquet is fragrant and floral with red fruit, spice and forest notes, the palate building on the scaffold of the bouquet. Here the accent is on excellent texture and length replaying the cherry fruit in a savoury clasp.
95 points