2022 Mystery Barossa Shiraz Deal No. 6496

Some mysteries are simple, some complex. And some are just breathtakingly jaw-dropping. This Mystery Barossa Shiraz 2022 falls firmly into the latter camp, backed by a whopping 96 points from esteemed critic Sam Kim at Wine Orbit.

Usually, this is where we’d start shouting about a legendary winemaker, six generations of muddy boots and all the wonderful stories that come with them.

This one is a little different.

The producer’s name and details need to stay firmly under wraps. But when the wine is this good, you stop overanalysing the mystery and start paying attention to what’s in the bottle.

It comes from a multi-regional premium producer with serious scale, reach and winemaking resources. In wine, that matters. It means access to excellent vineyards, premium fruit and the winemaking nous to bring it all together.

And this team wrangled the absolute cream from a spectacular 2022 Barossa vintage.

All the fruit comes from Barossa vines averaging around half a century in age. The majority is sourced from the Barossa Valley, with a measure of high-elevation Eden Valley fruit bringing a little cool-climate finesse to all that richness and power.

The result is a belting, big-hearted Barossa Shiraz, matured in French and American oak for close to two years before bottling.

Expect opulent dark plum, blackberry and mulberry, layered with rich chocolate and sweet spice. It’s dense, plush and concentrated through the palate, with silky fine-grained tannins carrying everything through a seriously long finish.

This is proper top-shelf Barossa Shiraz, with the depth, structure and sheer presence you’d expect from a far more serious bottle.

And we’ll leave the final word to Mark ‘Poll’ Pollard, Head of the TWC Tasting Panel:

“Big, rich, concentrated and intense Barossa Shiraz. Built to last. But oh so perfect now.”

The label might remain a mystery. The quality certainly doesn’t.