'98 Points - Erin Larkin - Wine Advocate

The 2019 The Forebear Shiraz is the inaugural release of this wine, positioned alongside the Laird. The fruit is sourced from the oldest plantings in the Hillside Vineyard in Lyndoch—12 rows planted in the early 1850s. The wine is astounding. It is inky black in its fruit spectrum, infused from all sides with gravelly tannin that feel both velvety and gritty; there's loads of chewy tannin to support the kaleidoscopic fruit, and monumental length. This is a very impressive wine, memorable and precise. I can understand why a single vineyard was made from this special parcel. So, on the nose, you get mulberry, blackberry, blueberry and ironstone, rust, blood plum, raspberry pip, aniseed, sumac and clove. The tannins splay across the palate and leave a trail of ferruginous spice in their wake, with inflections of ras el hanout, pomegranate molasses, pink peppercorns and roast beef crust. This is a whopping wine. Superb. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork and wax, with a black front label.