Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Reserve 2019

Crayères Vineyard Reserve scores another goal for Wrattonbully fruit with a premium red wine of class and elegance. A three-way blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (62%), Shiraz (19%) and Cabernet Franc (19%), this Reserve lives up to its name. It’s biding its time – a decant would be welcomed if opening soon – with everything set in place for a long lie down in the cellar. The four-year-old delivers a fine, tight structure – indeed, quite linear thanks to Cabernet’s sturdy tannins – upon which is built layer upon layer of fruit. The presence of cedary oak is noted on both the aroma and palate, but the inherent richness of the wine holds it well. It’s got depth. Purple fruits, black berries, leaf, earth, oregano and dried herbs combine with a good dose of French oak (100% new French oak for seven months followed by 12 months in old French oak) to produce a compact, even, taut palate. Give it the time it deserves.

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