Reynella Basket Press Shiraz 2016 - In Bond

Stuart McCloskey October 2025 “You wouldn’t believe this was almost ten-years of age. Accordingly, this certainly requires a good decant (2-to-4-hours) as this has all the potential to cellar for a further fifteen years.  Glorious colour - glossy, midnight black. So, inviting. Post a long decant – There is some serious gravitas to the bouquet. Black fruits wrapped in sweet spice infuse wonderfully with violets, cold steel, graphite, nori, smoked, black tea, cacao, ground coffee, and a little iodine. Leather notes are starting to peek through (as is black olive tapenade).  The palate (as I was expecting) is powerful, but the deliverance (flavour, structure and palate-feel) shows real skill, grace, purity and clarity.  In truth, I was expecting an old-school behemoth. Lots of Shiraz heft however, this strikes the perfect balance between the classical style with a modern deliverance. Unquestionably, the fruit quality and ten-years in the bottle are key factors. First sip – cooling blue and black fruits wrapped tightly in graphite. This glides and purrs like a pedigree cat. So smooth, succulent and seamless – the flavours and palate feel are long and drawn out. I love the lift of sweet raspberry. The bouquet just gets better. Unmistakable marine lift after an hour in my glass. Stunning.”

James Halliday July 2021 “40yo vines, hand-picked, open-fermented, pressed via the 97yo basket press, matured in French and American barriques for 18 months. If you are looking for a full-bodied shiraz with real class, it's hard to go past this. It offers regional bitter chocolate, blackberry and plum fruit, oak and tannins lined up in disciplined support. A super-long future ahead.”