Wine Front Reviews

2018 Stonegarden Riesling - 92 Points

Stonegarden riesling from a stone-riddled vineyard. Planted 1946. 10% barrel fermented in neutral oak.

Textural riesling but with plenty of cut and drive. Lemon, grapefruit, mandarin peel and spice. It’s simultaneously powerful and reserved, in the way of young Eden Valley riesling. It’s good now but it feels as though it’s on the way to somewhere better.

2017 Stonegarden Grenache Mataro Shiraz - 93 points

Field blend. Eden Valley. Vineyard planted, remarkably, in 1858. Whole clusters of berries are fermented wild, then basket pressed to neutral oak. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.

Picture perfect. Cherry-berry flavours, woodsy spices, strings of tannin, a general fleshiness. Woodsmoke overtones. Feels unfettered and free-flowing and yet it retains its shape throughout. Flings of wild, fragrant herbs for good measure. Just a lovely wine.

2017 The Eleventh Hour Shiraz - 90 points

Shiraz from Greenock and Stonewell in the Barossa Valley. Open fermented, basket pressed, no new oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered. Sealed with a screwcap.

Sweet fruit profile. Not flabby or overcooked but pushing it. Volume and softness are the chief traits here. Tar, raspberry, kirsch and more floral notes; almost into decaying rose territory. It’s attractive. It’s easy to like. And that’s the start and end of it.

2017 Caviste Blend - 92 points

From the Western Ridges of the Barossa. 85% shiraz, 5% tannat, 5% petite syrah, 5% primitivo.

A juicy, fruit-rich expression of the Barossa. Sweet raspberry, anise, plum and dry spice characters party through the palate. It has a bit of spark to it, this wine; it feels firm and well managed and yet it bursts with flavour.