Henschke Tappa Pass Shiraz 2023

This vintage celebrates 21 years of Tappa Pass Shiraz. The wine has a long history of graceful ageing so you can only imagine that that will continue with the ’23 vintage. The maker suggests another good 20+ years and why not, for amid the black fruits, the violet florals, the spice and earthiness, there is a solid backbone firmly in place. A pure elegance resides here dressed in brilliant crimson-purple hues accompanied by a rousing bouquet of blackberries, violet, Aussie bush scents, black cherries, plum, spice. The palate, nicely crafted, shows a hint of earthy savouriness before launching into a rich trove of spices in cassia bark, clove and dark spiced woody notes to match the dark chocolate, Cherry Ripe and oak (French oak, 10% new). Comes together with an overall Wow! on the finish.

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