Jamessuckling.com - December 2021
A super-ripe dark-plum and blackberry nose with pepper and spice aromas, together with some smoky and graphite-like elements. Plenty of complexity. So fleshy and deep with a smooth tannin texture and dark plums and blackberries sitting fresh into the finish. Rich, sweet red-fruit tones to close. Drink over the next eight years. 95 Points
David Sly – Decanter – July 2021
Beware the siren with the ruby-red lips. In a smoky room, here she strides - confident, cool, arresting. Slender, stalky cherry and a smear of blackcurrant bite, spiked with crushed peppercorns. No sunny smiles here, this is deadly serious. Leaner, finer and taut, it marks a big stride ahead from previous vintages. This vision of cool-climate shiraz marks a new age of measured sophistication. 98 points
Angus Hughson - WinePilot - May 2021
Fans of Shaw + Smith Shiraz will no doubt be very happy with the 2019 vintage. It’s beautifully pitched and manages to seamlessly combine quite ripe and fleshy fruits with subtlety and a silky texture – this is a wine where it is a challenge to stop at just one glass.
Deeply coloured, it is immediately open for business with bright, savoury and engaging fruits. There is blackberry, black pepper and high quality oak with a nice touch of stalky complexity adding some detail. This is followed by a ripe core of dark fruits on the palate with some liquorice and earthy flavours plus ripe tannins that provide a good backbone which drives a powerful and long finish. What I like most though is its deliciously silky texture that makes this wine extraordinarily drinkable at a young age.
Ray Jordan – The West Australian – May 2021
Showing slightly riper fruit characters on the nose as a result of the warmer vintage, yet it retains its mediumweight and cool-climate feel. Spicy and slightly peppery aromas float over the plummy fruit. Brilliant colour points to its life and energy with the nose and palate delivering on the promise. Has a chalky mouthfeel, which is most appealing. 94 points
Huon Hooke - The Real Review - June 2021
Bright, deep purple colour with a fresh, fragrant, floral aroma which echoes stalky whole-bunch fermentation. The wine is sweetly juicy on the fore-palate before slightly chewy tannins chime in and cleanse the finish, leaving a clean, dry aftertaste. A statuesque wine which definitely needs more time: it's a bit chewy and grippy right now, so serve with protein-rich foods. High potential. 95 points
Andrew Graham – Oz Wine Review – June 2021
Love the combo of fruit generosity at moderate alcohols here. More. More. Adelaide Hills Shiraz, built mid weight, but plump, with cooked ham, blackberry compote and black pepper. It’s joyful fruit too. It’s bright-fruited, spice-flecked, maybe a bit too primary, but very pleasant. Inviting. Not complex, but ah so affable and generous, and there’s capacity for more given the late spice tannins. Very good. Best drinking: now, but better in 2-3 years and for the next decade. 94 points
Jamessuckling.com - December 2021
A super-ripe dark-plum and blackberry nose with pepper and spice aromas, together with some smoky and graphite-like elements. Plenty of complexity. So fleshy and deep with a smooth tannin texture and dark plums and blackberries sitting fresh into the finish. Rich, sweet red-fruit tones to close. Drink over the next eight years. 95 Points
David Sly – Decanter – July 2021
Beware the siren with the ruby-red lips. In a smoky room, here she strides - confident, cool, arresting. Slender, stalky cherry and a smear of blackcurrant bite, spiked with crushed peppercorns. No sunny smiles here, this is deadly serious. Leaner, finer and taut, it marks a big stride ahead from previous vintages. This vision of cool-climate shiraz marks a new age of measured sophistication. 98 points
Angus Hughson - WinePilot - May 2021
Fans of Shaw + Smith Shiraz will no doubt be very happy with the 2019 vintage. It’s beautifully pitched and manages to seamlessly combine quite ripe and fleshy fruits with subtlety and a silky texture – this is a wine where it is a challenge to stop at just one glass.
Deeply coloured, it is immediately open for business with bright, savoury and engaging fruits. There is blackberry, black pepper and high quality oak with a nice touch of stalky complexity adding some detail. This is followed by a ripe core of dark fruits on the palate with some liquorice and earthy flavours plus ripe tannins that provide a good backbone which drives a powerful and long finish. What I like most though is its deliciously silky texture that makes this wine extraordinarily drinkable at a young age.
Ray Jordan – The West Australian – May 2021
Showing slightly riper fruit characters on the nose as a result of the warmer vintage, yet it retains its mediumweight and cool-climate feel. Spicy and slightly peppery aromas float over the plummy fruit. Brilliant colour points to its life and energy with the nose and palate delivering on the promise. Has a chalky mouthfeel, which is most appealing. 94 points
Huon Hooke - The Real Review - June 2021
Bright, deep purple colour with a fresh, fragrant, floral aroma which echoes stalky whole-bunch fermentation. The wine is sweetly juicy on the fore-palate before slightly chewy tannins chime in and cleanse the finish, leaving a clean, dry aftertaste. A statuesque wine which definitely needs more time: it's a bit chewy and grippy right now, so serve with protein-rich foods. High potential. 95 points
Andrew Graham – Oz Wine Review – June 2021
Love the combo of fruit generosity at moderate alcohols here. More. More. Adelaide Hills Shiraz, built mid weight, but plump, with cooked ham, blackberry compote and black pepper. It’s joyful fruit too. It’s bright-fruited, spice-flecked, maybe a bit too primary, but very pleasant. Inviting. Not complex, but ah so affable and generous, and there’s capacity for more given the late spice tannins. Very good. Best drinking: now, but better in 2-3 years and for the next decade. 94 points
