Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Shiraz 2020

That “reserve” word – too often overused – is, for once, well justified here. With Cabernet, 78%, in the lead and its close amigo, Shiraz, coming in at 22%, the two great friends of Australian wine set about seducing the drinker. Striking herbals, black berries, briar, acacia, jalapeño aromas run wild. As a four-year-old, it’s already revealing the emergence of a complex, arresting personality, one that screams age-worthiness. For the moment, there is a lovely mouth-fulling quality with an equally impressive tannin drive and presence. The flavours expand on from the bouquet, bringing added nuance to intense black-hearted fruits in black pepper, vanilla pod, nutmeg and baking spices with a dusty earthiness that drives deep into the wine. Has power and presence, not to mention a mighty moreish drinkability.

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