2023 John Duval Entity Shiraz

96 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

A wonderfully pure-smelling shiraz from John Duval from grapes sourced across a number of Barossan subregions – Krondorf, Marananga, Ebenezer, Moppa and Eden Valley. There is a real plushness to the fruit here; all juicy doris plum, blueberry and boysenberry with hints of licorice, violets, roasting meats, citrus blossom and earth. The silty tannins drift way back in the fruit this year and the finish is long and graceful, with the real spotlight on that fruit purity.

95 POINTS

David Sly - Decanter

A consistent focus of John Duval Wines is to show the depth of concentrated and complex influences. Here, that approach shows immediately in the glass, with a luscious, lively purple colour and keen, alert aromas of red berries and violets. Sourced from a combination of old-vine vineyards across the Barossa, the wine’s intensity draws you into a seamless long ride that rolls through sheets of redcurrant and sharp plum with lean blackberry, tart blackcurrant and plush black plum. Matured for 15 months in old French oak, it has a cohesiveness that provides much more than the sum of its impressive parts.

94 POINTS

James Suckling

Aromas of dark cherries, plums, blueberries, tobacco leaves, cedar and lifted spices. The palate is full-bodied with finely grained tannins and a rounded mouthfeel, giving flavors of blackberries, mulberry bush and coffee beans. Nicely weighted and silky smooth. 35% of its fruit is sourced from high-elevation Eden Valley vineyards.

94 POINTS

Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front

There’s so much bold flavour here and so much inherent balance. This Barossa Valley shiraz is spot on. It’s a dark and stormy wine but its buildings of tannin, acidity and ultimate length are all upstanding. Blueberries, blackberries, scorched plums, coffee, dried fruits, rust and saltbush; all contribute here, as do sweet, amity pan juice characters. Beautiful wine, no doubting it.

92 POINTS

Angus Hughson - Vinous

The 2023 Shiraz Entity is a compact welterweight, delivering punchy aromas of roasted meat and cherry brandy lined with spice. Its fleshy, supple flavors provide an attractive start before firm-edged tannins rise up to tighten the finish. This may become good in time.