Irvine Old Vine Shiraz 2021
$110, 14.8% alcohol, cork, Barossa Valley.
A substantial volume of flavour is delivered on a pillowy soft cushion. This really is the kind of wine you can settle in with, and into. It tastes of ripe plum, vanilla cream, cedarwood, pine and mint. The tannin here is fine but firm, the fruit is voluptuous, and everything just glides along as it travels through your mouth. This is a big Barossa shiraz served juicy and soft. 94 points.
This article was written by Campbell Mattinson, former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of the highly respected The Winefront site.
Mattinson has been an independent wine critic and photo-journalist since 1987. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the prized Best Australian Sports Writing Award.
Mattinson, who is 100% independent, puts a score out of 100 on every wine that he reviews. But what he’d rather do, is tell you the wine’s story.
