2021 Mount Pleasant Maurice O'Shea Shiraz

98 pts
A simply great Hunter Red, the best fruit from the vintage made into the best wine - a tribute to Mount Pleasant founder Maurice O'Shea.

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Sale price$295.00
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Description

The Maurice O'Shea Shiraz might be the most under-the-radar great Australian red, seemingly known only to Hunter aficionados. It deserves greater presence and recognition.

It is Mount Pleasant's flagship wine, and sits at the top of its Shiraz pyramid. Only made in great years, it is a masterpiece of blending, taking the best fruit from the estate's standout vineyards - Old Hill, Old Paddock, Rosehill 1946 and 1965 Vines.

It's a flowing, magic carpet ride of bright fruit, lively acidity, silky tannin and displays the quiet intensity inherent to great wine.

Could cellar for half a century.

97 points Points & Top 100 Australian Wines of 2023 - “A cooler year, producing medium-bodied wines of clarity. The voice of place, audible. In this instance, a blend of the more favorable of the estate's holdings to serve as a magnificent flagship. Yet while the narrative is important, it is this wine's beguiling, floral transparency that serves the real story. The tannins, delicate; the acidity, filigreed. The effect is one of an intricate mandala, shape-shifting across identities on the palate. Extremely complex and mellifluous, all at once. Quite the transcendental wine, reminding me of shiraz meeting pinot noir in a far off idyll. Drinkable now, but best from 2026. Screw cap.” - Ned Goodwin MW (James Suckling)

98 Points - "The tannin structure, the meatiness, the mineral. This wine gives an insight into what makes this vineyard so special in a way that I don’t know that I’ve encountered before, in a young wine. It’s like the bookcase has spun around and oh, I get it, there it is, that’s why everyone keeps looking at these books. It has length and complexity and all those things but this wine has more than that. It’s like it’s saying, Let me show you something. I took one sip and thought, Don’t go. I took another and thought it again. This isn’t just a wine, it’s an insight. I remember, in a previous lifetime, someone texting me a line from the Wine Hunter book, which of course is set around the vineyard that this wine is grown on. At the end of the book O’Shea turns to the vineyard that has been his life’s work and thinks, What a mate for a man. That’s what someone texted me, apropos of nothing, without identifying themselves or the book. I opened my phone and there were the words:
WHAT A MATE FOR A MAN!
I’ve always wondered, and wanted, to know what the wines of this mate-of-a-vineyard tasted like when they were young.
Today, from the first sip, is the day that I felt as though I stepped in closer to knowing.
This is a ‘what a mate for a man’ wine.
It’s got something to show you.
Don’t go, I thought, again, after taking another sip." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

97 Points - "Silky smooth in the mouth, squeaky a bit, a mix of pretty stuff, some dark in nature, fresh earth after rain, and wet forest breeze, autumnal leaves. But also fresh red rose petals, a hint of briar rose jam sweetness, and just a whiff of grilled hazelnuts in skins, or Amaretti biscuits as a top note. It’s mostly about tense and flavourful fruit skins, Damson plum-like, with plenty of fine leathery tannins. Black pepper spice to sign things off." - Kasia Sobiesiak (The Wine Front)

96 Points - "Good perfume, slight earthiness, blackberry, raspberry and cherry, liquorice and sweet spices. It’s medium-bodied, silky and savoury, distinct toasted hazelnut character, with some ginger biscuit, a mix of red and blue berries, a fine net of powdery tannin, and a savoury and nori-laced red fruited finish of excellent length. Svelte and so lovely." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

The Maurice O’Shea Shiraz is the flagship red wine for the Mount Pleasant and is a blend of the best fruit available, only made in the best years. Taken from the Old Hill, Old Paddock, Rosehill 1946 and 1965 Vines, it is truly a complex and unique wine to MP, exhibiting an almost euphoric sense.


Amazingly intense red and black fruits combine with spice to create a beautiful and complex aroma. Powerful fruits come to the fore, with perfect acid and tannin balance providing an exhilarating intensity and length.

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Shiraz
Country Australia
Region Hunter Valley
Australian State NSW
Feature High Score
Iconic
Reviewed By The Wine Front
James Suckling
Critic Score 98
97
96
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2021
Closure Screw Cap

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