2022 Shaw & Smith Shiraz

95 POINTS

Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front

A power of fruit and a power of spices. This is an excellent release. Sweet plums, smoked meats, black peppers and an array of cedar, bunchy herbs, stalk and toast characters. Tannin curls impressively through the back half of the wine; it feels both plush and fresh throughout; and while it’s definitely peppery (and floral) it’s the plummy, boysenberried fruit flavours that drive it. This is bang on excellent.

94 POINTS

Mike Bennie - Halliday Wine Companion

This is delightful. It opens with an expectation: game meat, white pepper, raspberry, tart cherry, some dried herbs and a whiff of truffle. Savouriness and pretty fruit hand in hand. It delivers on the palate, satiny tannins wrap up more of those fruit and savoury elements, game meat and pepper a strong card but beautifully woven through red fruits and sweeter spices. Ribbons of those tannins trail long through the palate; a light dusting of spice lingers. It's spot-on medium weight, too. So much charm.

93 POINTS

Shanteh Wale

A wine you’ll see on almost any city restaurant list because it fits the bill of real cool climate elegance with the stuffing most Aussies require of our beloved Shiraz, all at an accessible price tag. The vintage sees black fig, prune plums and sapote. A sliver of red toffee apple and black pizza olives. There is a sage leaf or two and woody herbs. The palate is streamlined with acidity driving the ship, more red fruit present with cocoa nib, coffee grinds and graphite. A savoury tapenade and spiced meat finish supported by powdery tannins. Drink now and will cellar for another few years. A great wine for almost any char or grilled meats – lamb chops and rosemary focaccia perhaps.

92 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2022 Shiraz is vibrant, spicy and lifted on the nose, with blackcurrant pastille, raspberry pip, sweet licorice and clove. In the mouth, the wine performs exactly thus, with gentle inflections of bone broth and crushed rocks. Mineral and fine and a little bloody. Good! 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

91 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2022 Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz is reductive upon opening and leads with cassis and dark chocolate, blueberry, dried mint, pencil shavings and crushed rocks. There's an air of butcher shop about it as well, which evolves and grows in time. The palate is shaped by cocoa-powder tannins and fresh acidity, with licorice and black cherries to close. The reduction is quite pronounced, even after some diligent swirling. Whether or not you enjoy this character is a personal preference, but I do enjoy it a little, and I enjoy it more once it departs. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.