Teusner The Dog Strangler is a Barossa Valley Mataro from 70+ year-old old vines. Spending five days on skins and 15 months in oak, it is a rich and decadent expression, with deep dark fruit and spice stretching lavishly across the nose and palate. With fine tannins and smooth style, this is an Australian red to savour and enjoy.
A lovely, deep, darkly impenetrable, purple/black colour. Deep purple, good name for a band. Blueberries, anise, smoked-meats, Asian spice, really lovely aromatics and evocative things happening in the glass. Deliciously fleshy blue fruits, dark cherry, spice and licorice. This has a really attractive dark fruit-weight and the tannins and acid work in tandem seamlessly to give the dark, slurpy fruit the structure and cut this wine requires.
95 points, The Real Review (February 2021)
So much velvety smoothness, so much depth of flavour. This cuts a beautiful, bold groove. Ripe dark berries, flashes of leather and graphite, creamy oak but in appropriate measure, firm-but-juicy-and-flavoursome length. The flavour train is here, get on, it’s a smooth ride and it’s a satisfying one.
94 points, The Wine Front (May 2021)
Mataro vines up to 25 yo; matured 18 months in older French oak hogsheads. Kym Teusner's mandate of softening this tannic variety is exemplified again in 2019. Alluring, spicy, sweet red berry fruits, refreshingly poised acidity, fine-grained tannins and well-gauged dark and milk chocolate all slot together neatly. Quintessential Teusner: exact and delicious.
93 points, Wine Companion (February 2021)
Colonel William Light, the South Australian colony’s Surveyor-General, named the Barossa in 1837 after the site of an English victory over the French in the Spanish Peninsular War. In the mid-1800’s Silesian and English immigrants settled in the area. The Barossa itself comprises two distinct sub-regions: Eden Valley and the warmer Barossa Valley floor at 270m.The Barossa Valley enjoys a warm Mediterranean climate characterised by hot dry summers and relatively low rainfall. Cool sea breezes from the Gulf of St Vincent modify the temperature, however hot northerly winds can occasionally dominate creating considerable vine stress. Many older established vineyards are dry-grown, but supplementary irrigation is also extensively used. The valley is comprised of rich brown soils and alluvial sands. A long history of uninterrupted viticulture in the area means the Barossa valley is home to Australia’s largest concentration of old-vine Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre with many over 100 years old. Although most famous for Shiraz, the Barossa can also produce fragrant and deliciously fruity Grenache blends and beautifully rich, chocolatey Cabernet Sauvignons.
