Wine Reviews

The sum of its parts is greater than its weight. It's not big wine in any sense but there are myriad elements in play and the general effect is transfixing. Bacon, cherries, woodsy spices, decaying roses and a red licorice note. Tannin attempts to be earthen and dry but the...

  Made from 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec, 6% Sangiovese and 4% Grenache, this beauty spends 12 months in French demi-muids before being racked to steel for four months. It is another example of precision blending, and this time there is more amplitude of flavour, richness and decadence. Yet, it...

  A blend of vineyards in Clare Valley blending cabernet sauvignon, malbec, sangiovese and grenache. Clever. Their own ‘classico’. The new label reversed the colours on this one, more black on black with white font, and it looks sexy as. Gorgeous wine. Supple, succulent, lush with dark fruit character, new...

  I love this fabulous ‘Clare Claret’! Made from 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, 13% Grenache, 6% Malbec, 6% Carignan and 2% Sciacarello, with a hefty dollop of 1930-planted fruit on board, this is one of the region’s most attractive young red wines, and I would love to get...

  Planted in 1998, this is a combative, sinewy Sangio with a gut punch of acidity that makes me think it could have been harvested a little riper. In need of time, this raw, cranberry, and pomegranate-soaked wine has a herbal theme that sends shivers down the spine, and it...

  The darkness of the label with black font makes this one for shining a bright light on, but perhaps you just recognise via the Pantone colourways anyways. Sangio from Clare. Really enjoyable, fresher expression of sangiovese here. Crisp edges, mouth-watering acidity, lots of rose hip tea and cranberry tang,...

  Fruit is in the passenger seat; acid and tannin are the drivers. There's a bit of tension in the car, too. This is a light-ish red that works for its juiciness and for its control, boysenberry and fresh red cherry flavours kicked along by thyme and lavender notes. It's...

  Made from 100% Sciacarello and matured in a Slavonian oak 2000L foudre for nine months, then racked to steel for two months, this is a loveable oddball and an impossible wine to guess blind. That said, it is delicious, raspy, and mouth-watering, and it covers the entire herbaceous spectrum...

  There are few in the Australian wine industry who look as good in stripey shirts, RM Williams, gilets and tan moleskin slacks as the Koerner boys. Or is that my imagination? If it is, then it’s how a lot of my dreams start. This wine is so often a...