THE WINE FRONT REVIEWS
2016 JRS Barrel Selection Shiraz
Campbell Mattinson
RATING 93+pts
Dry-grown shiraz from the Clare Valley. Two brand new French oak barrels. 55 dozen released. Hefty but neat as a pin. Sure there’s a good hit of oak here but the fruit matches it step for step and overall it presents as balanced. It boasts flavours of blackberry, iodine, mint, dark chocolate, condensed milk and a general smoky/toastiness. It’s warm, rich but well mannered. This will mature well for yonks, but it’s already drinking well.
Rated : 93+ Points
Tasted : jan19
Alcohol : 14.5%
Price : $70
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2020 – 2030+
Sussex Squire JRS Barrel Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Campbell Mattinson
Posted on 03 June 2019.
RATING 92+pts
Dry-grown cabernet sauvignon from the Clare Valley. Two brand new French oak barrels.
Stern and tannic but sweet of fruit. Coconut, sweet plum, choc-mint and vanilla ice-cream. Tannin draws heavily through the wine; every skerrick of flavour and tannin has been extracted. The fruit (and oak) feels soft in general so it can easily be enjoyed now, but given the heft here you’d reckon it will be better again once it’s had time to mellow.
Rated : 92+ Points
Tasted : Jun19
Alcohol : 14.5%
Price : $65
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2021 – 2030+
Sussex Squire Thomas Block Shiraz 2017
Posted on 06 June 2019 By Campbell Mattinson.
RATING 92pts
50% new French oak. Dry grown, organically. Clare Valley Shiraz. Cooler vintage.
It feels generous. Indeed the word plush is in order. Plums, tar, creamy-vanilla, spearmint and assorted florals. Both fleshy and fresh. I like the hit of this wine, the run, the follow-through. It’s a good red to settle in with.
Rated : 92 Points
Tasted : Jun19
Alcohol : 14%
Price : $NS
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2019 – 2025+
2017 Sussex Squire The Windmill Block Shiraz
Campbell Mattinson
It’s vigorous with fresh fruit flavour and creamy with coffeed oak. It’s more-ish, to say the least. It slips and slides through the mouth, earthen notes tunnelling beneath. It’s $26 well spent.
Rated : 92 Points
Tasted : jan19
Alcohol : 13.8%
Price : $26
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2019 – 2-27+
2017 Sussex Squire The Bloodline Shiraz Cabernet
Campbell Mattinson
RATING 90pts
55% shiraz from the Windmill Block, 45% cabernet sauvignon from the Samuel Block. Seamless red wine. Supple, mid-weight, sheeted with integrated tannin and satisfying through the finish. It tastes of mint, choc, roasted plums and peppercorns, though really everything here just presents as a complete, unified whole. Traces of bitterness to the aftertaste, though very slight, are the only demerit. Nine months in old and new French oak, 30% new. 350 dozen produced
Rated : 90 Points
Tasted : jan19
Alcohol : 14%
Price : $32
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2019 – 2026+
2017 Sussex Squire Poachers Run Pinot Grigio
Mike Bennie
RATING 92pts
2016 Sussex Squire The Partnership Shiraz Mataro
Perfume and pretty in the bouquet, the palate tells a story of dark berries and deeper stuff, a rich flow of neck oil-like molten choc-berry fruit and earthy spice. There’s balance though,and the wine feels fresh and vibrant as it slides around the mouth. Should satisfy a legion. Drink 2017 -2025+ Mike Bennie
RATING 93pts
2016 Sussex Squire The Hungry Sheep Mataro
Only 75 dozen produced. All into French oak, 30% new. From a single vineyard, dry grown. Open fermented, basket pressed. Pure silk. Character, sure, but the mouthfeel and the glide of tannin just makes this an exercise in velvet. Blueberries, blackberries, leather and ironstone. Some mint but not too much. Exquisite freshness and integration. A lovely wine. Drink: 2018 – 2026+ Campbell Mattinson
RATING 93pts
2016 Sussex Squire Samuel Block Cabernet Sauvignon
Single vineyard. All French oak, 20% new. 160 dozen produced. Quite captivating. It’s not so much the depth as the flavour profile. Boysenberry and sweet herbs, port wine jelly and toast. Mint. It’s a succulent cabernet, free flowing, a gentle breeze blowing through its hair. Drinkability factor is high. So too distinctiveness. Drink:2018 – 2028+ Campbell Mattinson
RATING 93pts
2016 Sussex Squire Thomas Block Shiraz
196 dozen made. 30% new French oak. Dry grown, organically. Clare Valley Shiraz.
Spearmint and bright plum flavours bloom through the mouth. It’s tasty and inviting from the outset. Smoky, cedar-like oak is there but as a complement, and a subtle one at that. This is bright and vibrant, but the fruit has darkness and depth. It’s like essence of plum. Good territory here. Drink: 2018 – 2025 Campbell Mattinson
RATING 92pts
2016 Sussex Squire The Partnership Shiraz Mataro
From two dry-grown vineyards in the Clare Valley. All into French oak.
Spearmint and chocolate, blackberry and a swoosh of ripe, sweet plum. This is satiny, warm and rich but well-mannered throughout, no better shown than in the tannin profile, which is gorgeously well integrated and fine. Quite seriously delicious. Drink 2017 -2025+ Campbell Mattinson
RATING 92pts
