Lienert Estate Laudemas 2016

A showcase of strong regional character. Indeed, Laudemas is a prime example of not just Barossa warmth of generosity, but Barossa shiraz. It’s a fitting celebration from a family who have called the Barossa home for generations. Loads of flavour and, unusually for the Lienert brothers, there is more noteworthy cedary oak evident, something they have deliberately pursued. This is intended as an age-worthy wine with oak bringing some additional fine tannin spine and flavour. Blackberry, dark plum, bramble mesh with lifted violets, licorice, chocolate, woodsy spice. Falls into the muscular category, at least by the Lienert standards, a fact that may be explained by 24 months maturation in new oak. It’s slurped right up but does make its presence felt, which is a good reason to give this little beauty more time in bottle. And Laudemas? It means ‘we praise’ or ‘we honour,’ and is named after John and James Lienert’s dad, John. This is a celebratory wine all round.

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