Made with fruit sourced from McLaren Vale, Barossa and Adelaide Hills and aged 12 months in large, old oak barrels, the deep garnet-purple colored 2011 St. Henri Shiraz puts forward quite a peppery, meaty and earthy nose enveloping a good core of fresh cassis, mulberries and warm plums plus a touch of cinnamon. A little earthy, lean and woody in the mouth and framed by medium levels of chewy tannin, it is still tight though finishes long. This was a tough vintage compared to 2010 and it shows in this wine.

100% Shiraz. 12 months in 50+-year-old large oak vats. They have examples of late 19th-century bottlings of this when Auldana made it. Mostly from a vineyard a stone's throw from Magill, although grapes from McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills. TA 6.6 g/l, pH 3.65 . Dark purple. Very rich, generous nose. Balsamic and treacle. Lovely satin texture and the sort of wine you yearn to serve alongside a Guigal single-vineyard Côte Rôtie. Lovely stuff. More approachable than some of the more obviously oaky bottlings. Very fresh. Long. (JR)