Fruit is sourced from dry grown Shiraz vines approximately 130  years old at Martin and Joan Smith’s vineyard in the Polish Hill  River. Grey loam acid soils over sandstone and slate make up the  profile with much of the top soil littered with rock, hinting at just  how tough the vines need to be to sustain growth and produce  quality fruit. Despite growing these vines organically since their  planting in the 1880s, 2012 marked the first year of NASAA  Organic Certification for these vineyards.  Handmade in a two tonne fermenter, the fruit is de-stemmed and  fermented using natural yeast. Hand plunged up to four times  daily to control temperature and maximise flavour and tannin  extraction. Left on skins post fermentation for fifteen days, then  lightly pressed and transferred to French oak barriques for thirty  months. One hundred percent new French oak for twelve months  and eighteen months in five year old French oak.

• The West Australian

  97 Points

  Nothing is spared from fruit sourcing to winemaking. The fruit comes from a Polish Hill River vineyard that is more than 100 years old, and it eventually finds its way into 100 per cent new French oak for 12 months. It’s pretty obvious such a concentration of fruit can handle the oak and the end result is a wine revealing great poise and balance. Massive concentration with the chalky tannin, ironstone character supporting it through a very long finish. There is real cellaring potential here.

  The West Australian, 28 Aug 2021

• 96Points

  Halliday Wine Companion 2022

  96 Points

  “The new black packaging works a treat. Hailing from 100yo vines in Polish Hill River, the concentration is literally breathtaking. You can sense the power on the swarthy/leathery/black fruit of the bouquet, the palate doubling down on all that goes before. Its future will be measured in decades not years – needs the optimism of matriarch Claire Marie O’Leary.”

  Halliday Wine Companion 2022, 12 Aug 2021

• Goldmedal

  International Wine Challenge 2022

  95 Points

  International Wine Challenge 2022, 12 May 2022