2016 Kaesler Alte Reben Shiraz

The Kaesler vineyards are located around the village of Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley and have been planted since 1893. After a long period working in France and South Africa, the successful winemaker Reid Bosward returned to Barossa in 1999 to work with a number of partners. to take over Kaesler. The biggest temptation for this acquisition was the opportunity to work with an unprecedented amount of very old vineyards. All vineyards are cultivated according to a 'sustainable viticulture' program. The old vines produce extremely powerful and concentrated wines that are characteristic of the region. It is striking that the style of the wines becomes more refined over the years. This balance between power, concentration, freshness and elegance is perfectly reflected in, for example, the beautiful Shiraz called 'The Bogan'.

The Kaesler Alte Reben comes from a vineyard whose vines are 100 years or older, so with straight Old Sticks. This top model from Kaesler has a complex nose with ripe black fruit (blackberries, blackcurrants), bay leaf, chocolate, notes of coffee and vanilla. In the mouth a very full body, high flavor concentration in which the ripe aromas are nicely present, firm tannins and an extremely long finish carried on by the unusually high acidity. The bottles are numbered and advice is to decant this wine.

94/100 James Suckling