2021 Kaesler Old Bastard Shiraz

98 POINTS

Ray Jordan - Winepilot

From one of the greatest Barossa vintages is this thoroughly beautiful Shiraz sourced from vines planted back in the late nineteenth century. The colour is quite brilliant with red garnet and bright purple hues pointing to its vibrancy and youthful exuberance. Perfumed cherry and plummy notes with a lovely underlay of damp, earthy and smooth creamy chocolate. The palate intensity is extraordinary, yet it is effortless and almost light in touch. A glorious statement of the Barossa in a great year.

98 POINTS

Ken Gargett - Winepilot

Who doesn’t love the label? More importantly, who doesn’t love the wine in the bottle? This stunning Barossa Shiraz comes from a vineyard planted way back in 1983 and it is probably fair to say that in all the years since then, there have been very few vintages which can compete with 2021. Under cork, this is an opaque purple/maroon. Ripe, fragrant, generous and yet well poised, there is good concentration to this classic Barossa Shiraz. We have notes of chocolate, black fruits, cassis, cocoa powder, bay leaves, crushed herbs, mocha and coffee beans. Intense, sleek and with near perfect oak integration, the wine has immaculate balance, silky tannins and such a seductive texture. Amazing length, this is stunning stuff. A cracking Barossa Valley Shiraz which will easily handle two decades or more in the cellar. If this doesn’t thrill you then the Barossa is not for you.

97 POINTS

Kasia Sobiesiak - The Wine Front

Planted in 1893, 12 rows. The full line-up of Kaesler Icon release (2025) is here. Very old vines and a wine that is still very young. However, with time in the glass, it starts to shed its perfume gradually and gives detail one by one, layer by layer, showing the complexity that it carries. It’s not all quite merged yet, but time should do its job. First come the blue fruit, vanilla bean and braised meat. It has minty spice, liquorice, star anise, and tarragon family of aromas. The texture is this thick fabric of fruit that rolls out in a velvety manner in the mid-palate and tenses up on the sides. It keeps a long line of flavour, and sends iodine-bloody electric shock waves through your taste buds. Spice and perfumed cherry wood smoke flesh out in the back palate. Tannins are shaped in long slabs of graphite—shiny, smooth and fine to feel. It’s very much a moving and living wine that has a long life ahead. Funnily, the old bastard on the label doesn’t seem to age like the fine wine it has in the bottle.

96 POINTS

James Suckling

Bold and complex aromas of blackberries, blood plums, mocha, mulberries and violets. The palate is full-bodied with a densely packed, creamy and generous mouthfeel, giving flavors of cured game meat, cassis, licorice and spices. Nicely constructed, with good tension and balance.

96 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

I dragged a bottle of this wine over to New Zealand to drink with my father on his 70th birthday. He loved both the wine and the sentiment and the empty bottle still sits in his workshop. He's 87 now and still a magnificent old bastard, as is this wine. It's classic Barossa. Ancient vines planted 1893. It feels wise, like its parent vines have seen it all in their lifetimes, and I'm sure they have. Blackberry, black cherry and plum, layers of spice, pressed flowers, chocolate, earth, panforte and pan juices. It's full bodied but there's a loose-knit spaciousness to its form; all grace and latent power; tannins powdery fine and finish long and true. I love it.