James Halliday Wine Companion 2020

Keenly anticipated each year by winemakers, collectors and winelovers, James Halliday's Wine Companion is recognised nationally as the industry benchmark. Our commitment to producing exciting wines which are honest to their site and variety has been recognised with a 5 Red Star rating once again. We are very pleased to share our 2020 edition scores and reviews.

2015 Rolling Stone - 95 Points
A blend of cabernet sauvignon, malbec, merlot and petit verdot from the Hazel Vineyard; essentially a barrel selection of the best of the Bordeaux varieties. It's not quite the finished article, but it has the components in the making for a complex and long-lived wine. The fruit has elegance and depth to go with it, the tannin ripe and persistent.

2016 Hazel's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - 94 Points
Fermented in concrete, aged in 30% new barriques. Shows good regional and varietal expression, although still very youthful and unevolved. Blackcurrant, cedar and dried herb are present in the bouquet and on the palate, with a sense of depth of fruit still to emerge from underneath the emphatic grip of the tannin as it is. Patience required.

2017 Hazel's Vineyard Chardonnay -95 Points
Fruit from a low-yielding, north-facing slope on the estate vineyard. Red loam and lateritic gravel soil, biodynamically-farmed. The funkiest bouquet of 'the three chardonnays' with an almost champagnelike lees character. Stone fruit varietal flavours and toasty/nutty/mealy nuances on the palate, concentrated and tightly wound. Better with time.

2017 Calgardup Brook Chardonnay - 95 Points
Grown on limestone and sand-loam soils close to the ocean. The coolest of the single vineyard chardonnay sites. Aromas of cashew and oatmeal mingle with white-fleshed stone fruit and a suggestion of salty sea breezes. Tight and precise on the palate, green apple and citrus curd flavours run into a long, textural, minerally finish.

2017 Burnside Chardonnay - 94 Points
A big, rich, generous Margaret River chardonnay, white clingstone peach plus nectarine. Impossible not to like this amiable wine.

2017 BDX Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot - 93 Points

2017 Amigos Red - 91 Points