Wynns Coonawarra Estate Michael Shiraz 2010

Tony Love
98 Points

Many have deemed 2010 a vintage for the ages, and this particular iteration is an exemplar expression of when variety, region and year all find their happy meeting ground. Add close to a dozen years of superb cellaring and the result is vinous fireworks. The black fruits and cedary French oak lock hands and hearts, now with some leathery notes in the maturing matrix yet still with extraordinary flavour vitality on the palate, a dusting of fine tannins settling the energy within. Fully complete and at one with itself. A very special wine.   

Ray Jordan
97 Points – Drink 2021 – 2030

An exceptional example of how this limited release shiraz starts to move into its mature drinking zone. Primary fruit aromas of red berry and cedar are gradually yielding to more mature hints of leather and spice. But the journey is only just beginning. Fine chalky tannins provide the structural support for what is a medium bodied wine of tremendous length and palate persistence. A word though; make sure you decant this wine well before drinking to allow those underlying sweet berry flavours to reveal their gorgeous qualities.

Jeni Port
95 Points – Drink 2021 – 2024

Wynn’s Michael shiraz – originally, Michael Hermitage – has a long history dating back to the 1950s. The 1955 vintage helped consolidate the shiraz grape’s suitability to Coonawarra, to the climate and the red earth over limestone terra rossa soils of the region. The 2010 Michael is no 1955 – for one thing, no second-hand fortified wine casks were used in the winemaking process – but it lives up to the Michael credo set by the 1955 vintage: Michael simply loves time in the bottle.

Dense, dark garnet hues. With bottle age the wine’s fruit energy has been refined, what we have here is the next stage of development. Earth, leather, dark chocolate, cigar box, liquorice scents. Quite savoury in intent. The spice holds up on the palate and then some, it infiltrates every nook and cranny. Oak in the ageing process brings an added complexity to the whole with an added mint, chocolate regional stamp. This is a wine at the top of its game. It has reached the plateau but that doesn’t mean it’s done spreading its enjoyment. Who knows how long it might remain at this level? Sure, it might not be as elegant as the 2012, nor does it have the potential for extended life of the 2013, but it is hugely enjoyable right now. I’ll take that.