Terre à Terre Crayères Reserve 2018

The pinnacle from the team at Terre à Terre, this is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Shiraz and 11% Cabernet Franc, selected from the best parcels from the Crayères Vineyard in Wrattonbully, which is planted on terra rossa soil. All hand harvested, though on different dates, with the picking dependent on their ripeness. The Cabernet Sauvignon in this vineyard was planted in 2004 and the other two varieties in 2008. The wine is then made at the Tiers Winery in the Adelaide Hills, with the grapes crushed, destemmed and then transferred to potter fermenters, before subsequently to French oak barrels, 74% of which were new, for nine months. Blended together in a five-year-old 4,000-litre French oak foudre and then matured for another nine months. 700 six-packs. 

Near opaque in colour, this cracking wine gives intense and plush aromas of black cherries and plums. Cloves, leather, aniseed, blackberries, spices and chocolate. Seamless and supple, this has impressive length and very fine, silky tannins. Intense but finely balanced, it retains its elegance throughout with more dark chocolate notes emerging on the palate. This is terrific now but will easily give you 15 to 20 years more pleasure, if you can keep your hands off it.