Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard Brooks Road Shiraz 2020 1500mL

96 POINTS

Huon Hooke - The Real Review

Very deep red/purple colour, with a very rich, deep aroma of dark plum and blackberry, with latent spices emerging the more the glass was worked. Some subtle bunchy traces as well—'forest floor' and leaf litter. A profound and already quite complex shiraz with full body, richness and drive, the finish reverberating on for some minutes. A trace of licorice. The tannins are very abundant and so soft that the wine drinks well already. A ripping shiraz with a big future.

96 POINTS

Aaron Brasher - The Real Review

Deep, youthful red colour in the glass. Pretty, lifted, perfumed aromas of musk, geranium, dark cherry, dried herbs, dark chocolate and spice. Full-flavoured, mulberry, blackberry, blood plum, mocha, spice and a menthol edge. The tannins have a fabulous minerally texture and mouth-feel and there's a lightness and brightness to the palate—nothing heavy or clunky here.

95 POINTS

Ned Goodwin - Halliday Wine Companion

A sumptuous wine that manages to hold its cards of spice and flamboyant fruits close to a chest of riches. Unirrigated blocks contribute. 50% of the cuve was crushed to open-tops, resplendent with 20% whole bunches; 20 days on skins, extended time on lees and élévage in both new and used puncheons, before a blending of the best to a foudre and concrete egg. This sits on a diplomatic cushion between the Rhône-inflected contemporary styles that splay pepper, clove and blue fruits about the mouth, and a richer, more lustrous regional note. The tannins etch the cheeks and wind down the side of the tongue, keeping to the path of righteousness. Fine indeed.

95 POINTS

Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast

Rich, polished and immediately likable, this vintage of Brook's Road is beautifully perfumed with succulent blueberries, thyme, florals and savory spice. The supple, silky primary fruit leads on the palate, but is structured within a frame of fine-grained tannins. Still a baby, this should evolve beautifully over the next several decades.

94 POINTS

Angus Hughson - Vinous

A deep color in the glass. The 2020 Shiraz Brooks Road is a decadent and bold expression of McLaren Vale, delivering charcoal and sweet blackberry aromas, plus an attractive eucalypt lift with a rich seam of vanilla oak. A firm and punchy palate follows, with intense sweet fruits and peaty complexity. A rich core of tannins offers support and provides significant aging potential.

93 POINTS

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

I get the feeling that 2020 in McLaren Vale was better for Shiraz and Grenache, over the Bordeaux grape varieties. Spice, paprika and pepper, blue and black fruits, meaty and more than a little nutty. It’s meaty and savoury, dried herbs, some aniseed perfume, a fine chalky chew to tannin, a little vanilla/cedar oak, a whole lot of dry spices, and black olive, with fresh acidity and a saline and pepper-laced finish of excellent length. Slightly baked in flavour profile, but convincing all the same.