Unbelievably good. Young, but the potential is overwhelmingly potent. Floral, nutty, intense small-berried fruit, cedar, anise and sweet herb. Tight, medium-bodied, so concentrated, but light too, ultra-mineral, fresh, all the gravel and tense cabernet feel, but with perfume unlocked: so flagrant and fragrant. The length is superb. I’m taken aback by the beauty and essence-like nature of this wine. My precious. Easily one of the best wines I’ve tasted in the last decade.

98+ points, The Wine Front (November 2021)

Has the usual estate blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and malbec (92/4/3/1%), the grapes hand picked on fruit days between early February and early March, the components matured in French oak (50% new) for 13 months. The perfumed bouquet has already soaked up the new oak, the purity of the fruit in a cassis-redcurrant-blueberry spectrum. The small berries of a quasi-drought summer might have imposed awkward tannins, but the medium-bodied palate is so perfectly balanced it has a drinking span of 30 years and counting.

98 points, Wine Companion (February 2022)

Aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants, new leather and bark follow through to a full body with a dense, deep palate that goes on and on, but is still shy and reserved. Large amount of ultra fine, cashmere-like tannins that are silky, sleek and wonderfully integrated. Extremely long and focused. Needs at least four to five years to start opening. A beautiful wine for the cellar. Try after 2027.

99 points, JamesSuckling.com (January 2021)

Even if you were tasting this wine blind, your first tasting note would have to be, WOW! The scent sets the scene beautifully. There is an inherent complexity here. And balance. Each individual component melding as one: aromatic florals, vanilla pod, red berries, fennel seed emerging across a line of lightly smoked charcuterie.

In its youth, there’s a cut and thrust of tannin (the cut, the former) and oak (the thrust, the latter) which puts a taut scaffolding in place for a long, long future. It combines McLaren Vale smoothness, Coonawarra black-hearted, tannic intensity with a Barossan sweet and savoury core and, while Padthaway also plays a small part, you have to say that the big three regions own this wine. Blackcurrant pastille, tapenade, smoky oak, red currant, forest floor, sage/mint and pliable tannins bend to the will of the whole. Bin 707 rarely looks so approachable, so young.

98 points, Wine Pilot

The aromas of blackberry leaves and iodine are wild and exotic here with mussel shells and earth underneath. Full-bodied, tight and chewy with powerful tannins that show muscle. It’s structured and powerful. Dense and very, very deep.

100 points, JamesSuckling.com (April 2019)