Beresford Grand Reserve Shiraz 2019

Offers a picture of the very essence of McLaren Vale Shiraz: a wine of generous proportions, ripe in fruit and dense in flavour with a long way still to go.  Sports excellent colour, burly tannins and a wealth of flavour that just keeps on going. You might call it a little old school, the kind of reminder of the warmth and cuddly appeal of Vale Shiraz that will resonate with drinkers. Hazelnut, sandalwood oak aromas and sweet black berries, dark plums and dark chocolate pan forte mix with a wealth of baking spices – clove, allspice and vanilla. Settling in, it’s like lounging in a big, old leather chair, with its earth, leather notes and touch of savoury meats. Built for the long run, the palate with its ripeness of fruit, role of oak and density, allows for nothing less than another good 10 years in bottle. But, for the rest of us, well, it could be earlier. It’s just waiting for a steak but, for that, you will have to be patient. It is scheduled for release in 2026.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic