2010 Australia

The Zumma has been crafted with Burgundy in mind and, as such, it is elegant and restrained in style. Ripe, macerated red cherry fruit is clearly evident and the age of this wine comes across in its maturing, savoury notes of smoked meats complemented by just a hint of leather. Drink now to 2019.  
Garry Crittenden planted his first vines in 1982 at Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula, a then unknown wine region. His five-acre planting took the region’s total area under vine to 10 acres; today there are in excess of 2,500 acres. The Crittendens became pioneers of cool climate viticulture in Australia.

Located in Australia’s Yarra Valley, Pimpernel Vineyards is an exciting family-run producer of top quality Australian wines. Winemaker Mark Horrigan’s wine experience began in youth. Wine was so much part of the family routine the garage was occasionally transformed into a bottling line, the unit for which is now on display in the Pimpernel Vineyards Wine Room.

The use of Syrah as grape descriptor is the clue to this wine's restrained and elegant character, more reminiscent of the Rhône than the Barossa. Fragrant, lifted black cherries mingle with a touch of graphite minerality on the nose, while the palate is delicate yet fine with very well managed tannins. In 2010, two percent Viognier was co-fermented with the main cuvée, adding a subtle, exotic top-note to the wine but overall it feels very European in style. This is a delicious and sophisticated Syrah from the Yarra Valley.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2010 The Armagh Shiraz flaunts a gorgeous aromatic red and black fruit core intermingled with clove, chocolate box, and eucalyptus aromas that are still very primary. Bottled under screw cap, it has a really fine palate that is very elegant yet powerful. With vibrant acid, firm and very fine tannins, the flavors are rich and layered with spices coming through on the long finish. Drink it from 2015 to 2030+. 
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Nov 2015

2010 was an outstanding vintage in Coonawarra, the vines enjoyed early and even ripening with moderate yields delivering an outstanding quality of fruit.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2010 John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon has pronounced black currant, black cherry and cedar notes with nuances of lightly browned toast, roses, game and rosemary. Medium-bodied, the palate is already a joy to drink, though this wine is showing only a fraction of its potential. Elegantly fruited and tightly wound, it has a firm level of fine-grained tannins and a refreshing acid backbone. It finishes with laudable persistence.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - Wine Advocate #205- February 2013

First made in 1982, The John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon was conceived as the flagship wine for the Wynn’s estate. The Cabernet sauvignon grape was seen to be most at one with the Coonawarra Terra Rosa soil. John Riddoch named after the pastoralist and parliamentarian is often seen by many as the definitive Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, produced in small quantities and only when the vintage and fruit is of a high enough standard.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2010 Astralis is still quite primary eliciting aromas of black plums, blueberry compote and blackcurrant liqueur with a savory and baking spice undercurrent plus a fragrant whiff of violets. Very structured, fine and complex in the medium to full-bodied mouth, this wine is revealing much more than when I first tasted it a year ago and is now showing layer upon layer of black fruit preserves, mocha, toast and spices before finishing with great length. Extraordinary wine.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - Wine Advocate - Issue#211 Feb 2014

Deep garnet-purple in color and sporting a very forward and expressive, creme de cassis-led nose with hints of dried mint, dark chocolate and cigar boxes plus a whiff of dried herbs following, the full-bodied 2010 Cellar Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a rich, concentrated and classic Barossa Cabernet style shaped by medium to firm, grainy tannins and crisp acid. It finishes very long.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - eRobertParker.com #211 Feb 2014

Officially launched in 2000 with the 1997 vintage, RWT is the perfect foil for Grange. A single-region Barossa Valley Shiraz matured only in French oak. Made from fruit primarily selected for its aromatic qualities and fine texture rather than sheer intensity or power of flavour. Its style is opulent and fleshy, contrasting with Grange, which is more muscular.

The Cabernet Sauvignon reflection of Grange.  A blend of fruit from five vineyard sites, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, and Adelaide Hills. A truly outstanding vintage that takes Bin 707 to a new level, with winemaker Peter Gago describing the wine ‘Gloss and sheen (‘sparkle’), yet with depth and structure’.

The expression of Shiraz from a single vineyard, the original Magill vineyard to the East of Adelaide, with the fruit crushed, fermented and matured on-site at the original Penfolds Magill winery, established in 1844. An elegant, medium-weight style with velvety texture and fine tannins, matured in both French and American oak.

RunRig has often drawn comparison with the beautifully fragrant & tautly structured wines produced from the steep slopes of the Northern Rhône Valley’s Appellation of Côte Rôtie.  A beautiful and flawless blend of 97.5% Shiraz and 2.5% Viognier.
 
A brooding darkness of morello cherry, blackberry fruits, spiced apricots and olive tapenade on the nose gives a hint at the serious beast of a wine we are about to encounter.  The palate is powerful with a huge mid palate of taught tannins and acidity, perfectly matched by a rich core of fruit, dark chocolate and espresso.  A beguiling, multi-faceted wine. One for the long haul, drink 2018 – 2030.
Stuart Rae, Fine Wine Manager
 
For me, the finest wine of Torbreck and one of the most impressive New World wines you could ever hope to taste. There’s a dash of Viognier here to enliven and lift the aromatics, but it’s the old vine Shiraz driven rich, black fruit characters, chocolate, liquorice and spice notes which set the tone. Layer after layer, this is super charged but somehow a sense of precision and finesse remains. The real joy of the great Torbreck wines is the marriage of texture and big dark flavours with a refinement, balance and poise rarely seen in the Barossa.
Martyn Rolph, Fine Wine Manager

The name Woodcutter’s stems from David Powell’s several years spent working the Scottish Highlands as a lumberjack in the Torbreck forest.  This wine reflects the up and coming Shiraz vineyards of the Barossa, rather than the battle hardened old vines which make up the core of the other cuvées.
(BBR Fine Wine)

The 2010 Grange spent 17 months in new American oak barrels, but wears this draconian oak regime with ease. Very big and rich on the nose, surprisingly savoury with hints of tapenade, blueberry fruit, dark chocolate and coffee all competing for attention.

On swirling, the glass becomes entirely coated with this viscous, dark wine. Dense, rich and powerful on the palate, reminiscent of young vintage Port in its intensity, but without the high alcohol or sweetness, in fact it's very savoury on the palate too. Notes of very dark fruit and high cocoa solid chocolate abound, but are kept in check by perfectly judged acidity and meltingly fine tannins. Dry, but immensely long and satisfying on the finish, linear and fine. This is what the best Douro table wine should be like, but seldom is, powerful and complex, yet refined and dry. Very impressive. One of the best vintages ever? It certainly has a very long life ahead of it.
Chris Pollington - Private Account Manager

Torbreck see this as the most Barossa wine they produce – they’re not wrong in 2010 either. The nose of this wonderful wine strikes you immediately as very fine, very serious Australian Shiraz. This density, complexity and purity of the dark and brooding fruit is that which can only come from meticulously tended, old vines and assured, hands-off winemaking. Wines of this quality from the Barossa can be drunk young, but I would implore any buyer to cellar for this for a decade as I am sure it will evolve into one of the great Torbreck wines. Only question is, bottles, magnums or bigger?
Gary Owen, Private Account Manager

The nose is exotically spiced, with sage, mocha-espresso notes overlaid by ripe cassis.  The palate is fully textured; tannins are present and yet ripe, and the back palate is finely knit together with a savoury, moreish black pepper spice.  2010 has produced an exceptional Mount Edelstone.  It is luscious now and tempting to consume in its early days but do not be fooled, there is hidden power and undiscovered depths to this wine which only time will reveal.
Stuart Rae - Private Account Manager

These vines were amongst the first planted by Gary & Julie Hounsell, so were 15 years old when this wine was made. The grapes were picked at a level of ripeness that achieves a remarkable balance between elegance and ripeness.

Yarra valley is acknowledged as being great cool climate Chardonnay terroir but this wine really excels with its mineral notes, lively acidity, in part through lack of malolactic fermentation, beautifully integrated oak (25% new, 500litre barrels), rich texture from lees contact and long, lively finish. A worthy competitor to a Puligny-Montrachet for partnering salmon or scallops.
Martin Hudson MW, Wine Buying