Kaesler Old Bastard Shiraz 2022

Kaesler Old Bastard Shiraz 2022
$350, 14.5% alcohol, cork, Barossa Valley.

This is a single vineyard wine from a block of vines that was planted to shiraz in 1893.

This is a superb release. Simply superb. It’s a bold, powerful, black-fruited wine but it’s laced with graphite and rust-like notes and it runs on forever through the finish. The web of tannin running through the back half of the wine is elite in itself; it’s the perfect anchor to the shipload of fruit flavour. Peppercorn, saltbush, cedarwood, earth and smoked olive notes play minor roles; everything else is major. This is an epic Barossa shiraz. 98 points.