Ruggabellus Timaeus Grenache 2022

670 bottles made. From two tiny little vineyards, both on sandy soils and one in particular is very close to the defining waterway of the Barossa valley - the north Para river. As a result, the sand here has a long history of deposition from a intriguing diversity of sources upstream. The old vines have been tapping into this interesting resource for many years now. This is the reason they continue to provide fruit laden with beautiful, subtle complexity and layers of flavour. Abel Gibson.

Gosh I liked this. Mea culpa, I drank the bottle with friends. Wonderful to touch base with these wines again. Feels like ages. Ruggabellus has shifted back to cork and heavier glass bottles now.

It drinks with a freshness, an edgy crispness that could unsettle the traditionalists, but once you settle into the wine, mellow, soft, dark fruited, licked at with alpine herbs, mintiness, game meat, the world feels right. It’s wonderfully balanced in its brighter framework and yet there’s depth and richness in tow. It’s fragrant, supple, moreish, sour-sweet and so strongly herby. I utterly love it, and it feels classy. Well, well done. Drink 2023-2030, 95 Points – Mike Bennie, The Wine Front