This deeply structured red is distinctive for its brooding black raspberry, dark baking spice and crushed stone accents that build tension toward medium-grained tannins. Best from 2023 through 2031.

Tight as a knot at first, this red takes its time unfurling but it’s worth waiting for, with intense dark plum, sandalwood and crushed rock tones that flesh out and expand toward firm yet polished tannins. Best from 2023 through 2031.

Stunning--a rich nose of coffee liqueur, cassis and chocolate, pencil shavings and lavender lead to a palate with equal depth and generosity. It has a supple weight and concentrated flavours of inky black and purple fruit and spice. Delightfully fresh even with some maturity; it is harmonious and fleshy, the tannins sweet and polished.Outstanding.

Fermented entirely with whole bunches which has given this a spicy and gently reductive edge to the nose with bright red cherries and strawberries and a lick of amaro-like herbs. The palate has a very soft and slightly peppery stream of red cherry and fresh crunchy texture.

Sourced from the Coal River Valley, this has all the ripe and concentrated red and dark cherry fruits as well as modern spicy oak, some sappy notes, too. Rich fleshy depth to the cherry fruit on the palate is matched with freshness and nicely groomed tannin.

The 2020 Applejack Vineyard Pinot Noir is the most sappy and brambly of the 2020 single vineyard pinots. It has plenty of fragrance with deep-set spice beneath herbs and florals as well as fresh strawberry, raspberry and red cherry fruits. A little flint, too. The palate has a taut, elegant and fine feel with tart red fruits delivered amid bright acidity, a real stamp of the season. Holds tight on the finish for now. Try from 2023.

The 2020 Giant Steps Sexton Vineyard Pinot Noir sits more in the blueberry fruit zone with less of the redder fruits seen in the other single vineyard pinots. It has brambly aromas as well as an earthy edge, the oak is very much in the background. This vineyard always delivers quality skin tannins and they are well-placed here adding some good depth and smoothly ripe texture to bright blueberry and plum flavours. Finishes smoothly. Drink over the next six years.

A refined and minerally style, with lithe acidity supporting well-knit flavors of cherry and raspberry. The plush finish lingers with creamy accents and plenty of spicy and toasty notes. Drink now through 2026.

This midnight purple colored red blend from Bootleg is a big boy! It opens with a blackberry and boysenberry bouquet with hints of black licorice, graphite, and oak. On the palate, this wine is full bodied with medium acidity. The mouthfeel is round and lush. The flavor profile features delicious concentrated fruit. Those fruit flavors are ripe blackberry and stewed black plum with notes of black jellybean, clove, and acai berry. We also detected hints of cardamom, black tea, graphite, and black cherry. The finish is rather dry, and its big boy dusty tannins stick around for a very long time. This blend is perfect for sipping by the firepit on a cool fall evening or with food, it calls for a well-marbled ribeye steak.

Thick and richly layered, this wine is savory in tobacco, sage and plenty of grippy tannin, the fruit nuanced in dark plum and currant. Tobacco, black pepper and wild game nip at the edges, adding to the complexity and intrigue.

Leathery aromas lead to a core of classic varietal character, made in a savory style with mountain-grown intensity. Violet, blueberry and integrated tannin glide along a velvety texture of refined structure and complexity, leading to a cohesive, oaky finish.

Grown on east-facing slopes at higher elevation than the “Sexton” Pinot, this “Applejack” is the more open and gregarious of the single-vineyard duo. Fleshy fruit sits happily between a mélange of flavors including dried flowers, mushrooms and graphite. It’s medium weight and silky, with smudgy, graphite-like tannins. The savory, herbal finish cries out for roast lamb or a tray of grilled, blistered veggies. Drink now–2028.

It would be fascinating to put this Hickinbotham Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 up against 707 or the like. It sure has the guts. An absolute top shelf McLaren Vale Cabernet, and structured to last generations (and nowhere near ready). In fact, that readiness counts against it – it’s a monster.Oh and do you like the new labels? I think I like the old ones tbh. But that might be a cognitive bias thing. Speaking of cognitive bias, I struggled to rate this for philosophical reasons. Do you call this a Top Gold (18.7/20, 95/100) scoring wine, because of the impeccable structure signalling what it will become? Or do you go a little lower, because the oak is such a dominant force rather than an expression of fruit and terroir?The winemaking, as usual, is ace. Sourced from 3 blocks on the Hickinbotham property, with the bulk yielding at less than 1.5t/acre. The juice spends 17 days on skins minimum, bottled October 2020 (so let’s say 12-15 months in oak minimum). Numbers, for the interested: pH 3.6 TA 6.4g/l.Classy oak is indeed a potent feature here. Dark berries meeting coffeed oak. It’s deep, dark and very finely polished too. Too much? It’s hard to argue with the perfection of the palate otherwise – coiffed and ultra-fine, with the most perfect tannins. But I’m torn. I see oak on nose, on the palate and through the tannins, while the Shiraz is just glorious from the get-go. Just a teensy bit warm on the finish it is too.Too young by half, but the perfection of the body is excellent. The plus signs couldn’t be more important.

Lots of whole bunches driving a sappy fresh-herb edge to the nose, as well as fruit that moves in a strawberry and red-cherry direction. So fresh and vibrant on the palate, this has a bright stream of red-cherry flavors and attractively crisp tannin. Drink now.

Deepish red/purple colour, bright. The bouquet is complex with mixed-spice and dark-fruit aromas, plus a dusty-earthy mineral overlay. The wine is full and round and supple in the mouth, with soft, almost pillowy tannins and savoury dryness, the after-impression one of harmony. There is a core of deep-buried sweet fruit that comes on all pastille-like, and the tannins on the finish are earthy and peppery in the same way green olive-oil leaves a peppery feel in its aftertaste. This is a baby, a bit closed, and demands more time. High potential.

Restrained, youthful pinot noir, with peppery tannins keeping the volume down at this early stage. Quite a savoury, spicy wine suggesting the use of whole-bunches in fermentation. A moderately complex and supple wine that clearly has cellaring potential.

Sour cherry, tart pomegranate characters, lots of red fruitines and a light dusting of spice and minty herbal notes, Crisp texture, lighter feel but multi-dimensional in its layers of flavour and detail. Tannins wash over the wine and build gently to a tightening chew. Quite a floral wine here. Very appealing.

“Possibly the most delicate of all the 2020 pinots”, Steve Flamsteed tells us, “needs time to relax too”.So fine boned, tiny needle work points of acidity and sour cherry, the smallest pinch of alpine herbs and white peper. A mouthful of glass shards and sour cherry-kissed mineral water of the finest pedigree. A little smudge of walnut paste in finish? Barely. Anyways, beautiful, fragile, refreshing, edgy, pure feeling. Wonderful expression on the edge.

This svelte and sleek wine offers wonderful, beautifully integrated red and black fruits, forest floor nuances and dashes of earth and wood smoke. It’s fascinating and complex but also harmonious, elegant in texture and memorable in flavor.

There’s a detailed softness to the nose of this bottling, ranging from warm butter and cake batter aromas to lemon zest and egg souffle. The palate is much more firm and vibrant, offering sharp lime and grapefruit, a chiseled structure and then warmer flavors of toasted nut toward the acid-washed finish.

Floral, with edgy acidity, this white is made from a block within the Durell Vineyard that is rocky. The rock shows through on the palate, adding texture and complexity to the highlights of apple skin, pear, stone fruit and oak, the finish loaded in spice.

Delicious fruity richness comes with bracing underlying acidity in this full-bodied, generous, creamy but well-balanced wine. Lemon, almond, ripe Bosc pear and toasted baguette flavors give it more than enough to savor.

There may be no better bang for your buck in Russian River Valley Chardonnay. Rich, unctuous and velvety, it is expansive and balanced, with lush layers of peach and pear dusted in nutmeg. The oak is well-integrated and contributes cohesive elements of baking spice.

This white gold colored Chardonnay opens with a great nose featuring lemon and oak with a hint of honeydew melon. On the palate, this wine is full bodied and slightly acidic. It also round, well-balanced, and lush. The flavor profile is a lemon and green tea blend with notes of subtle minerality, and oak. We also detected hints of pineapple and coconut. The finish is dry, and its flavors fade away nicely. This excellent Chard was enjoyed by everyone who tried it. It would pair well with a chicken ravioli with wild mushrooms with a light cream sauce.

Ambitiously priced it may be, but there's no denying the quality of pan-Cape Chardonnay from the Klein Karoo, Overberg, Stellenbosch and Robertson. The oak is a little smoky, but the palate is racy, dense and structured, with impressive extract, lees and baking spice notes and a core of minerality.