The estate’s flagship cuvee is the virtually perfect 2003 Run Rig. Made from 8 separate Barossa vineyards (ranging in age from 94 to 158 years), it is primarily Shiraz with 4-5% co-fermented Viognier included in the blend. The wine was aged in French oak of which 60% is new. The sensational, inky/purple-tinged 2003 exhibits a stunningly sweet nose of blackberries, blueberries, litchi nuts, smoked meats, and a hint of apricots. Elegant yet super-powerful, rich, concentrated, and long, it is a tour de force in winemaking as well as a modern classic example of Barossa Shiraz. It should drink well for 20-25 years. Drink: 2006 - 2031
-Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #167 Oct 2006

The estate’s flagship cuvee is the virtually perfect 2003 Run Rig. Made from 8 separate Barossa vineyards (ranging in age from 94 to 158 years), it is primarily Shiraz with 4-5% co-fermented Viognier included in the blend. The wine was aged in French oak of which 60% is new. The sensational, inky/purple-tinged 2003 exhibits a stunningly sweet nose of blackberries, blueberries, litchi nuts, smoked meats, and a hint of apricots. Elegant yet super-powerful, rich, concentrated, and long, it is a tour de force in winemaking as well as a modern classic example of Barossa Shiraz. It should drink well for 20-25 years. Importer: Deborah Gray, The Australian Wine Connection, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (760) 770-5446

A huge, ripe wine, the 2003 Torbreck Run Rig is a blend of 95% Shiraz (aged for 30 months in 60% new French oak) and 5% Viognier (aged for 6 months in barrel and added to the blend just prior to bottling.) Still purple with only slight lightening at the edges, the wine is bright and perfumed on the nose, with thick spice, chocolate ganache, underbrush, and bramble characteristics giving way to deep blackberry and raspberry styled fruit. Rock star on the palate, with a full bodied, powerful texture that turns more round and soft on the finish, but still showing ripe tannin, fantastic length, and overall solid balance, this beauty is delicious now, and should continue to evolve and age gracefully for another decade or more.

(includes 5% viognier) Inky violet. Explosively aromatic nose offers the full range of red and black fruits, along with notes of candied violet, cinnamon, mace, star anise and exotic tobacco. Hugely concentrated and velvety but also remarkably precise and energetic, with very pure flavors of blackberry, boysenberry, plum preserve and kirsch Ripe, explosive and deep on the back; as rich and sweet as this is, it's not at all thick or cloying. A real balancing act of power and purity. The tannins are completely buffered by the wine's sheer concentration of fruit. I'd give this at least five years of cellaring to gain in complexity. As impressive to my palate as the superb 2002 version.