2018 Paracombe The Reuben 12 Pack

94 POINTS

Ray Jordan - Winepilot

A really beautiful medium-bodied blend of Adelaide Hills Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Shiraz. The fruit is concentrated and fleshy, with the extra time in the bottle helping to integrate it seamlessly. There is a distinctly spicy and slightly savoury character threading through the bright black fruits of the palate.

93 POINTS

Tony Love - Winepilot

The Reuben has been one of Paracombe’s Drogemuller family’s great vinous treasures for a good decade – here a blend of Merlot, Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc, Malbec and Shiraz – effectively a Bordeaux blend that thrives in Paracombe’s northern Hills plateau conditions. Its first approach is very much a blueberry sense, with French-oak derived woody spice, before dwelling in the mouth with a similar flavour profile, tannins in check and balance with an even trajectory to the finish. It’s always released with several years on the clock, which serves this blend well, here still deliciously vibrant at 7 years old and potentially many more years in such rude health.

93 POINTS

Shanteh Wale - Winepilot

A blend of Bordeaux varieties matured in French oak. Blackcurrants, dark cherry skin, bitter cocoa nib and chocolate dust. Prune and plums with graphite, potting soil and cold black tea. Once again, the cooler Hills growing condition demonstrates how well acidity maintains the fruit quality, and Paracombe must have a cellar with impeccable cellaring conditions. The palate here is pure black fruit, oak nuances taking a back seat, providing some creaminess and carry but the core of the wine remains, beautifully timed and picked fruit.  Drinking this now, it’s hard to imagine you’ll have the restraint to put some aside, but the asking price means you should buy some now, for tomorrow and for many more days and years to come. Impressive wine. Drink with Beef Bourguignon and remind yourself of greatness.

93 POINTS

Ken Gargett - Winepilot

Always a pleasure to see wines which have been held back for ageing before release (and worth noting that this wine, a fraction of the price, has spent more time in the cellar before release than either the latest Grange or Hill of Grace). The Adelaide Hills wine is a Merlot dominant blend (50%) with Cabernet Sauvignon (22%), Cabernet Franc (21%), Malbec (6%) and Shiraz (1%). Around 2,000 dozen made. An inky dark maroon hue, the nose, delightfully aromatic, offers notes of violets, bay leaves, dried herbs, sage, aniseed, graphite and black fruits. This is bright and fresh, well balanced and with sleek tannins, before a long and lingering conclusion. The palate sees the emergence of notes of blueberries. This is fabulous value and will drink beautifully for the next eight to ten years. A winner!

Mike Bennie - Halliday Wine Companion

A blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, malbec and shiraz, matured in French oak. It's quite thickset and lush in its styling, lots of dark cherry, ripe plum, toasty oak and old spice cupboard characters in the perfume and palate. A dusty, dry red, feeling its way into its maturity with additional Christmas pudding, roasted nuts and smoky spices elements in play. Ostensibly, we have a fuller-bodied dry red on hand, and it charms in its old-school, good-school way, though the dry reddy nature of the wine may be suggesting it's time to drink sooner rather than later.