(January 29, 2019) … There’s something about some of these old Australian Shirazes that really are my jam – sometimes when they are young they can be a little jammy and a little sweet, but if you can find one that has the tannins and acid to back them up then you’re in for a treat as it ages. This one has the sub-text of Baker’s Gully & Vignerons vineyard, which gives us the place it is from in the McLaren Vale … now at 10 years of age there are so many layers to discover: eucalyptus, spice , blackberry and cherry, then there’s smoky, earthy and meaty notes that lie under all that great fruit … there are also definitive hits of red and black pepper, raspberry and spiced-cocoa on the finish … Tannins are still aggressive but show signs of mellowing into silkiness as it rests in the glass. And as it sits it also develops a little cocoa on the nose. Plenty of complexity here that seems to hang on for the duration of the evening – and that bodes well for the future of this wine surviving another decade.