Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Shiraz Franc 2021

I opened the bottle, I tasted it, I drank a glass with dinner . . .  and then the next night, I drank another glass. Sometimes, you have to double down on a wine that just keeps giving and see how long it can maintain that stamina. On day three, this stunner was still going strong. The secret is the wine’s all-round harmony, a difficult balancing act to be sure, but one that exudes a classic beauty to what is considered a classic, exceptional vintage. The fruit is sourced from Wrattonbully and contributes its usual generosity aligned to fine tannins. There is such a marvellous energy, vitality and drive here. The aromas bring blue fruits, black berries, plum, oregano, bay leaf, earth and herbs with vanilla pod. They embrace on the palate and are joined by a sense of the terroir, of Aussie bush, bay leaf, a splash of eucalypt, jalapeño, a strong spice element and fine pencil lead oak. The synergy is total, the effect is stunning and oh so elegant. Will age very well.

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