2023 St Hallett Faith Shiraz 6 Pack

92 POINTS

Tony Love - Winepilot

St Hallett has a well-developed reputation with seriously elite Barossa Shiraz, so how does its more commercial side stack up? Note the labelling refers to the wider Barossa (zone), which allows tapping into Eden Valley if needed, though this isn’t specified on the bottle in this instance. Traditionally it has been from the central and northern districts of the Valley – St Hallett’s philosophy has been to uncover how the region’s sub districts bring different characteristic to the fore. This ever popular iteration of Barossa Shiraz has an attractive spiced plum note to the nose, with encouraging depth, peak-ripe fruit with supportive acidity swelling in the mouth and a fine duct-coating of earthy tannins. A crowd pleaser with regional and varietal integrity.

92 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

Bright magenta/crimson with its full-bodied pull of pure Doris plum and blueberry fruit, the 'Faith' has long been one of my constant recommendations for folks seeking to dip their toes into Barossa shiraz. It is just consistently delicious and ticks all the regional boxes nicely. With great fruit density, chocolatey tannins and some great sustain on the finish, it is once again a cracking drink.

91 POINTS

Tom Kline - Winepilot

Juicy blackberry, black plum and dark cherry are foiled by charry oak, sprinklings of brown spice, coal and mocha notes, all of which makes for balanced and attractive perfume at this price point. The palate has a bitter mocha and dark chocolate opening, sitting above black fruits, black pepper spice and coal. It’s juicy and forward, though not overtly so, with fine bitter cacao tannins framing a finish of medium length. All in all, this isn’t a blockbuster structurally, nor is it in the fruit bomb camp. St Hallett has done a fine job of offering up a $24 Barossa shiraz that punches above its weight.

91 POINTS

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

This wine is now available at Aldi, and interesting to see more name brands cropping up at their stores. Wynns is also in the mix (2023 Siding Shiraz $12). Plum, cherry and ripe strawberry, a little bit of spice, even a bit rosy, with not much in the way of oak to obscure the bouncy fruit on offer. It’s medium-bodied, has a juiciness that’s a welcomed, some toasted hazelnut and milk chocolate, gentle tannin, with a finish of good length. This is affable, drinks well, and I like that it’s not trying too hard either.  It’s 90 or 91, though I think I’ll go with the latter.

90 POINTS

Regan Drew - Winepilot

One of the long standing workhorse labels of the Barossa, celebrating the ‘leap of faith’ for the European migrants that have made the Barossa such a special place. Deep bruise purple in the glass. A celebration of those things the Barossa does well: plums and blackberries wrapped in milk chocolate with a dark cherry edge. There’s a piquant cayenne pepper/chilli tang over gunflint and steel leading to a rum n’ raisin echo. While still full bodied, it feels lighter than first appearances with a juicy finish and roguish tannins. A solid release of this well-regarded favourite.