JM 1ST APPROACH

Like 2010 this wine reflects many characters from some of best vintages of the 90s. A very powerful palate, tight and racy. Wonderfully subtle fruit, well integrated with complex secondary characters, fine acidity and great length. This wine will develop into a real classic, quite in the style of traditional Burgundy. This wine will have great longevity - especially under screwcap closure.

A 92/8% blend that spent 17 months in new and used French oak from topflight coopers; the crimson colour leads into a bouquet and palate with blackcurrant and cassis to the fore; the oak adds to both texture and flavour, but it is the lifted fruit on the finish that really puts the stamp of quality on the wine. 94 points James Halliday

Though I’ve scored it the same, I suspect I like the style of this better than the previous vintage.  Importer: Fourth Wave Wine Lavender and thyme perfume, spice, blue fruit and boysenberry. Medium bodied with a good uptake of fleshy berry fruit, but
tasty southern French elements taper it off neatly. Tannin well tucked in and a juicy, but dry finish. Spot on. No largesse. Great affordable spicy Shiraz drinking. 91 points

Decent, quaffable pinot noir for under $20? It's almost impossible to find but this terrific value import from the south of France manages it ... “the best French Pinot Noir outside of Burgundy” .... It's on the riper side of the pinot spectrum, certainly no shrinking violet, but no brash bogan either. The (French) girl next door with smoothness, dark cherry fruit flavours, hints of earthiness and plenty of length. It can be found on special for as low as $15 but the RRP is $19.  Windsor Dobbin

This wine, a modern type of French sauvignon, has intense varietal personality, suggesting tropical fruits, blackcurrants, grass and minerals. It tastes forward and fruity, refreshing and clean. Ralph Kyte-Powell

It’s cracking value. ... Tropical fruits and hay. Acidity gets a little stringy on the finish but it’s bright, flavoursome and different-enough to make you want to reach for more. Compelling in its category. Winefront.com.au

Plenty of lavender, dried rosemary, hung game-meats, musk and white pepper. The palate is well weighted with plenty of texture and fruit flavour’s of ripe, plum, blackfruit’s, mulberry and cherry. As to be expected there are the rich savoury and spicy aspects that we love from this variety in abundance. Nutmeg, Dutch licorice and a great earthy weight. Ripe, chalky tannins wrap in to a long persistent finish.

... even and perfectly pitched with an impressively long palate. Cranberry freshness and a sort of almond flavour add further appeal. Likely to improve and gain complexity, if you can wait. Irresistible. GW Score: 95+ points Drink: 2013-2020+.
Bushing King 2011 - Gold Medal winner, Trophy Winner, stunning Grenache
Pure essence-y, concentrated and deep: strawberries – fruit and pips – plus toffee. There’s brick dust and older oak Stilton-like smells too. Fabulous. And the palate is fabulous too, but more specifically it is super-deep fruited, intense, slippery textured. 96/100, 10/10, $63. Tim White AFR

There’s impressive poached pear and fresh lemon fruit presence here, even a touch of baked apple and nutmeg, pulling into a nicely honed tail of cool Adelaide Hills acidity from this single vineyard in Charleston. One-third fermented in old French oak barriques helps to build its finely mineral texture, rounded out just a touch by residual sweetness on the finish. 92 points Tyson Tselzer

I don’t know what they’re doing at Kirrihill – but they’re not making a $20 wine. - OK, so it needs some time. The acid needs to settle, the tannin needs to relax, it all just needs to knit together some more. But the purity of fruit – blackcurrant, dust, brambly blackberries – and the firm seriousness of the finish mark it clearly as something other than a mere quaffer. A touch of chocolatey oak completes the picture. Good bones here. Rated : 92+ Points Winefront.com.au