Knappstein Unearthed Malbec 2025
$35, 14.5% alcohol, screwcap, Clare Valley.
I hate to lead with a technical wine term but here goes: this is bloody good. It has grunt and perfume, structure and a juicy fruit-driven approachability, and from start to finish it just tastes the goods. Hats off to the Knappstein winemaking and growing team. This wine is as sturdy as it is satisfying, and it’s more-ish as well. 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 both the highly respected The Winefront site (founded 2002) and Mattinson Photography.
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.
