Gary Walsh

The Wine Front 94 Points

Raspberry frogs, cherry, almond paste, spice and dried flowers, a subtle volatile lift adds a little frisson to it. Ripe red fruits, nutty and rich, fine silty tannin, dried cranberry, lots of perfume and character, with a fleshy finish of excellent length. Lovely wine. Perhaps a little slushy, but very nice all the same.

The Vintage Journal 96 Points

Fruit is sourced from un-irrigated bush vines that were planted in 1946. 50% crushed and 50% whole berries intact. Maturation in seasoned Austrian and French oak foudre and puncheons, egg andamphora. Black and crimson berries lead the charge with poppyseed, acai and pizza olives. Holy basil, granite and raspberry straps weave throughout. Fruit brightness is magnified on the palate, with an emphasis on mulberries and some powdery dry tannins that give way to forestry and woody herbs. There is an exultancy about this wine; you cannot deny its precision. A wonderful site expression and depiction of the slightly warmer conditions whilst keeping focus and drive at its centre. It’s jubilant and should be enjoyed with something like veal scallopini. Drink now–2035

Campbell Mattinson

CampbellMattinson.com 94 Points

‘Old Vine’ here refers to a dry-grown, bush-vine, biodynamic-certified block of grenache that was planted in 1946. It’s fermented wild with 50% whole berries. Some of this wine was left macerating on skins for over two months. It was matured in a mix of amphora, ceramic egg and foudre.

The flavour here is savoury in general and yet it’s driven by a sweet, juicy ripeness. That’s the sleight-of-hand that drives the quality of this wine straight towards excellence. It’s a wine of finesse, and of filigreed tannin, and of juicy, raspberried, come-hither fruit, and yet throughout there are notes of rust, chalk, dried herbs, saltbush and crushed, dry leaves. It’s a ripping drink, decidedly good value in the overall scheme of things, charismatic and charming.