Ranked #1 of 144 2012 Shiraz from Barossa Valley
97/100
5 Stars
Huon Hooke
Deep red with a good tinge of purple colour; the bouquet shy and somewhat reticent, unready, and laced with some smoky toasty oak. There are background hints of dark chocolate, espresso coffee and mocha, and an echo of fruitcake - complete with dried fruits. The palate is terrifically rich and deep, sumptuously flavoured and smoothly textured despite the welter of tannin. It's very full-bodied and there are lashings of tannin, but they're good tannins. It's a big but nicely balanced wine, with good acidity lurking beneath the mouth-coating flavour and tannin and keeping it all lively. Very long. This needs time and will be an outstanding RWT.
Tasted: 23/09/2014
Drink: N/A
94 Points Robert Parker
Seeing 16 months in French oak, 75% of which was new, the deep garnet-purple colored 2012 RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz opens to a ripe, blue fruit nose with crushed plums, blackberries and blueberries plus touches of bay leaf and some loam. This full-bodied beauty explodes in the mouth with youthful blackberry character, very fresh and vibrant acidity and a lovely toasty nuance coming from the complimentary oak notes. The long finish is fresh and fine.
Source: Robert Parker (eRobertParker.com) by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. January, 2014
98 Points James Halliday
May explain why Kalimna Bin 28 is the least of the Bin series reds, for this wine takes the finest shiraz from the Barossa Valley once Grange has had its choice. The call is made early, because this wine spends 16 months in French oak hogsheads (75% new), finishing its ferment in that oak, separating it at birth from Grange in American oak. The bouquet abounds with black fruits, with sub-notes of dark chocolate, licorice and some charcuterie. The palate is drop-dead gorgeous, a curious description given its strongly savoury flavour range, but it achieves the unlikely. As with all these wines, the tannin structure is exceptional, the length prodigious. Drink to 2040.
James Halliday Wine Companion.
99 Points Andrew Caillard MW
Deep crimson. Intense blackberry, praline, cinnamon, roasted chestnut, vanilla aromas with spicy, espresso notes. Ample in structure and densely packed yet gorgeously balanced with deep set inky blackberry, dark plum, mulberry fruit, velvety smooth textures, meaty nuances and superb spicy vanilla oak complexity. Finishes chocolaty with plenty of fruit sweetness and mineral length. This could be Grange in French Oak, a wonderful RWT with superb balance, richness of flavour, minerality and lasting power. A complete triumph. Drink in a while or keep.
Source: Andrew Caillard MW.