JM 1ST APPROACH

The bouquet is full of mocha oak, sarsaparilla and plums; the palate is fleshy, forward, rich and fresh, showing the McLaren Vale side of this variety's personality; generous, but not to a fault, just a lovely drink. 92 points James Halliday

.. Wonderfully generous palate is ripe and slippery but not sweet. Not hard to like a juicy, ripe, no-nonsense Vale Shiraz like this. 17.5/91 points Australian Wine Review

... meat, spice and dark fruits on the nose ... and soft silky tannins with a long finish. Polished and fascinating.  93 points James Suckling

...enticing rather than overbearing and it lingers beautifully on the finish. A fine wine for the price .... Winingpom

... Has an earthy goodness about it too. Benefits from a quick slosh in the decanter. Excellent red wine. Rated : 92 Points Winefront

it fairly glides along though the mouth, finishing long and sweet. Subtle savoury elements and brown spices too. Typical Barossa Grenache. High quality at the price and a very good drink. 92 points Winefront.com.au

The family that owns Pico Maccario is a true Barbera specialist! With an intense purple color, this wine features a bouquet of plum and cherry with hints of baking spice. It has a super silky mouthfeel, finishing in sweet fruit and velvety tannins. A rich, satisfying glass sure to please any crowd.  ... A scent of pine or rosemary leads off, followed by flavors of pure black cherry and blackberry. This has density and grip, but in proportion with the juicy fruit. Drink now through 2016.

Like the 2008 before it – perhaps more so – the 2009 is as sexy as shiraz gets at the price – beautifully, sweetly aromatic with a vibrant, fruity palate to match. Chris Shanahan

Bright crimson; a fragrant bouquet encompasses spice, plum, black cherry and blackberry aromas that flow through to the medium-bodied palate, there picked up quality oak, and finishing with polished tannins. Great bargain. 96 points  James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion

A spine of flinty acidity shapes the wine and turns on the thrusters through the back-palate. Toasty, spicy oak provides the chassis. Precise, intense and utterly charming. Crazy price. 95 Excellent – Exceptional Wine Will Eat Itself

Length, length and length. It builds upon itself like a circus troupe, yet never topples or sways. Earlier picking gives life, constitution and potential. Give it up to five years in the bottle and this will be quite special. Even now, it’s a treat. Buy a case if you can, before word gets out. Outstanding / 94 points Sealed with Wax

Fraser Gallop is a winery that’s pretty much gone from 0 to 100 in no time flat. - Struck match, lime and melon, cashew and vanilla cream – region and winemaker working happily together here. Medium weight, but packing plenty of fruit and flavour  93 points Winefront.com.au

An elegantly crafted wine picked at the optimum moment to give flavours of citrus, quince and white peach that are in turn picked up by the barrel ferment oak inputs; the acidity underwrites the future of the wine to five+ years.  94 points James Halliday