Geoff Merrill Wines Henley McLaren Vale Shiraz 2009

Once, we regularly saw aged Australian reds being released. Now, not so regular and they stand out. I would argue that Henley ’09 would have stood out as a youngster and that further time in bottle has only improved its good looks, its class. Henley saw 36 months in French oak according to the back label. I braced myself for a full-on oak attack. What I tasted was a plush, gentle unfolding of a McLaren Vale Shiraz with the kind of poise and confidence that comes with age. The generous fruit-oak relationship plays out before you in dark fruits, blueberry, plum, cinnamon, earth and cedar. Henley builds on that base with some savoury, pan forte notes, liqueur cherry and earth. It’s complex and quite the opposite of what you might expect from a hot year such as 2009 in the Vale. The viticulturist who grew the fruit should be proud. Boasts good length too as the flavours go on and on. And there’s more time ahead should you choose to cellar further.

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