Yangarra Hickinbotham Grenache 2024

96 POINTS

Shanteh Wale - Winepilot

100% Grenache Noir from the Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard, gnarled bush vines planted in 1962. Matured in amphora for 7 months. A distinctive wine that stands out from the crowd, showing its dark brooding fruit spectrum and granitic black soil depths. Rich plum, dark olive and briar of inter herbs. It is the translation of place that makes Grenache so compelling and this is a fine example of its old historical bush vines and clay soils. Fine tannins that stack on top of each other to ensure a long life ahead. A wonderful wine for charred sticky meats.

96 POINTS

Ray Jordan - Winepilot

Such an exquisite and pretty example of Clarendon Grenache. In fact, these vines were planted as bush vines back in 1962. The fruit was de-stemmed and crushed into two drunk turtles, stone amphora, with gentle maceration, and then time on skins before further maturation in the amphora for seven months. Beautiful aromas of rose petal, raspberry, light cherry. And then a poised and pretty palate, seamlessly integrated with lovely expression of fruit, fine chalkiness, and a compelling lift on the finish.

96 POINTS

Marcus Ellis - Halliday Wine Companion

From 1962-planted vines on brown clay loam with shattered siltstone; destemmed, crushed and fermented in 1800L cocciopesto amphorae, with four months' skin contact. There’s always a little more flesh to the Hickinbotham bottling, with the fruits a deep red, yet it has an overwhelmingly savoury fruit profile. That said, elegance is a byword for the whole grenache suite, with transparency, fine detail and natural tannin complexity constants. Deep red and black cherry, dark rose, some faint blue fruit/floral cues, Baharat, a very fine anise note, along with amaro herbs and warm earth, all so finely wrought. Tannins are so elegant yet insistent, and the accord with acidity make this dangerously drinkable now; though, given the wine holds up for several days, the future is assured.

93 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

This is off 1962 planted bush vines and wild ferments in egg shaped amphorae. It’s quite hearty and sweet fruited, a touch into the confected and jammy side but neatly driven back by a swish of crackling, blood orange acidity, pleasing aniseed bitterness and a feathery tug of dusty tannin. The tannin profile a touch rustic; dried leaf in in the finish. A heady perfume signs a bit of riper, medicinal cherry fruit in too. In all this, a wine doing a good if not great job with the variety, perhaps needing, actually, yes needing a little more time to gel. But lots to like.