Dark ruby garnet, violet glints with a slightly paler hue at the rim. Ripe scents of dark berry jam, a hint of blackcurrant, vanilla and eucalyptus. On the palate, juicy, very ethereal followed by lovely notes of red cherry, well-integrated tannins, minerality and firmness as well as a touch of salinity. Already very harmonious, with a hint of lime on the finish. Very drinkable, worth cellaring.

The most cellared red wine in Australia is 389, and 2018 marks its 60th vintage. It is an intricate blend of fruit that follows the season: cool years are heavily slanted to Barossa and Mclaren Vale, and the warmer years tap southern vineyards. In 2018 physiological ripeness favoured all regions, and winemaker Peter Gago and the squad took full advantage, picking the 57 percent cabernet sauvignon, 43 percent shiraz from McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, Coonawarra, Robe and Wrattonbully. All the fruit was aged in American oak hogsheads, of which 38 percent were new. That is a new high, signalling the quality of the 2018 fruit. The rest of the used barrels are usually passed down from the Grange program. Gago calls this year backward and one to wait for and less forward than many of its predecessors. Everything deepens to an amazing black forest cake lookalike on the palate (a 2018 marker according to the winemaking team) with more cherry, blackcurrant, and blueberry. Rich, powerful, and showing some oak but in its finest form, supporting not dominating. It will need a decade or more to round into form and begin to express its vast potential. Yes, you can drink it now, but why open your bottles? Drink a friend's first. You can drink this now or for the next 30 years. (Antho(more...)