MMAD Shiraz 2024

This is old vine fruit with a portion of whole bunches presenting a style that is darkly fruited with a swathe of intensity, richness and uncompromising impact. The style speaks to northern rhone Syrah and doesn’t hold back with the potency or volume in the glass. Tasting through the back vintages, this wine benefits with bottle age, allowing the fruit to settle and gain composure. Mitch Milicich, FWC

This has been the surprise packet of the MMAD wines, with it duelling for position with the grenache and chenin blanc. Some whole bunch, concrete and oak vat for ferment, then raised in older, larger oak, as usual. Saint-Joseph resonances. Evocatively aromatic and spicily so. Smoky, darkly mineral. Blackberry pastille, tapenade, lavender, grilled game meat, crème de violette, iodine and nori, star anise, ground clove, allspice, green and black peppercorns, malted barley, freshly ground coffee, powdery rust. Like the grenache, the nose holds such intrigue, demands attention. That’s matched by the silky flow of the old-vine fruit on the palate and the superfine natural tannin. This is blisteringly good, again.  

97+ Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion 

A briar of black fruit and savoury, creeping herbs—bilberry, dark cherry and pepperberry layered with notes of kombu, coastal rosemary and wild, untamed greens. There’s an earthiness here too: turned soil and dark, stony sand grounding the aromatic lift. It feels like an afternoon bush walk—banksia brushing past, scrub at your ankles—so vivid is its sense of place and transportive quality. Powder-fine tannins settle gently through the mid-palate, while olive tapenade, nigella seed and a touch of twiggy oak lend structure and savoury detail, supporting the core of blackberry fruit. This is full flavoured, detailed with its own distinctive character but sits in a medium to full body for its freshness and brightness. You won’t forget this experience any time soon. Try this with Lamb chops and old school mint sauce and reinvent the marriage of the two. Old school dish and very new school modern wine. 97 Points, Shanteh Wale, Wine Pilot