Jancis Robinson (18)

Subtle and layered. Really exciting already because of the density. Tense but the fruit extract means you could actually drink it now.

Decanter (98)

The clean, fresh aromas of just-picked citrus fruits belie the enormous power of lime juice and rich lemon pith that immediately fills the front palate on this latest vintage. There’s poise in addition to the power though, with multiple layers of rounded citrus and mineral flavours enjoying a luxurious textural roll through the mid-palate. Perfect integration of fresh citric acid carries the pure fruit qualities through extraordinary length to a crisp, lip-smacking finish.

James Suckling (98)

An exceptional vintage for this wine, with such intense aromas of lime and sweet flowers, as well as hints of white nectarine and wet stone in the background. The palate has density and sleekly refined shape that drives so long. Lime juice throughout, and some almost pithy density builds into the finish, supported by driving acidity. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2026 and a number of years after that. Screw cap.

Wine Advocate (98)

One of the most colossal wines in all of my tastings was Jim Barry’s 2004 Shiraz The Armagh, a 100% Shiraz aged 16 months in French and American oak. It is an opaque purple-hued, super-intense effort displaying great precision and richness. Notes of melted asphalt, acacia flowers, blueberries, blackberries, charcoal, and espresso roast emerge from this full, dense, opulent Shiraz. The finish lasts for over 45 seconds. This is a great example of one of the icons of Australian Shiraz. Anticipated maturity: now-2025.

Wine Advocate (98+)

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2012 Shiraz The Armagh offers a gorgeous perfume of baking spices, violets, Sichuan pepper and fragrant earth. More earthy and savory in the mouth than on the nose, the palate is superbly structured and taut—built for the long-haul—with a long, complex finish. Still very youthfully, forget this wine for 3-5 more years and consider drinking it over the next 20+.

James Suckling (99)

Wow. This is a bold, brassy shiraz that carries a wealth of very intense aromas of ripe blackberries, dark plums, licorice and sweetly spiced earth. Still so very youthful and primary. The palate is so powerful, so mouth-filling and so, so juicy. This manages to deliver such intensity and composure. Supple, long and deep-set tannins and heroically expressive fruit. Really impressive now, but this will deliver much more over the next two decades. One of the finest releases to date.

James Suckling (99)

Wow. This is a bold, brassy shiraz that carries a wealth of very intense aromas of ripe blackberries, dark plums, licorice and sweetly spiced earth. Still so very youthful and primary. The palate is so powerful, so mouth-filling and so, so juicy. This manages to deliver such intensity and composure. Supple, long and deep-set tannins and heroically expressive fruit. Really impressive now, but this will deliver much more over the next two decades. One of the finest releases to date.

Wine Advocate (97+)

The Barry brothers sent me a second bottle of the 2022 The Florita Riesling, which I am tasting here today, because they felt that it wasn't showing as well as it could the first time when I tasted it in October (it had only been bottled four weeks prior). In truth, I think it was showing just as well then as it is now, and it is a superstar. 2022 seemed to harness the fruit from the vineyard and boost it: more power, more concentration, more acid, more vivid ... just such exceptional wines. I've said this before, but 2022 could easily be the best vintage in the last 20 years, and for those who know, that takes us back to the great, the age-worthy, the revered 2002 vintage. This is a collector's year. Do not waste the opportunity, because the vintage, coupled with the screw-cap closure, will allow the wine to age for a long time.

Tim Atkin MW (96)

South Africa's Sweet Wine of the Year 2017.

Decanter (98)

An historical wine, Vin de Constance has been re-established in the last few years as one of the world’s finest sweet wines. Dried Muscat grapes are aged for three years before bottling, in French and Hungarian casks with a touch of acacia wood. Citrus, orange zest, rosewater and spice notes leap out of the glass. The palate has a laser-like focus with massive sweetness perfectly balanced by acidity and a mineral finish. As impressive as Château d’Yquem (and considerably better value).

Tim Atkin MW (98)

Increasingly celebrated as one of the great sweet wines of the world, not just the Cape, Vin de Constance is a delight to taste and review. Slightly drier than the 205 release at 165 grams of sugar, it has more in common with the Loire or Tokaji than it does with Sauternes in terms of freshness and structure.

Matthew Jukes (19.5++)

I am informed by the top man at Klein Constantia that the price will be the same as last year’s superb 2017 and all of the likely candidates in the UK are likely to hold stock. It will require a little effort on Google and you will see that a large number of wine merchants will list 2018 Vin de Constance and while the prices swing around like no other wine I know, at £60 or so, for a half litre, it certainly makes sense to me and when you consider the sheer quality of this vintage, it is a bargain for this celestial experience. Stock is likely to arrive in September 2021, but do feel free to register your interest with your preferred wine merchant now. Vintage reports suggest that the build-up to the 2018 harvest brought the highest summer rainfall of the last six years and, combined with some of the coldest night-time temperatures on record, the vines were granted a very long and very slow growing season. These conditions have imbued extreme delicacy of perfume and flavour and also staggering concentration and length in this wine. It also means that the 2018 vintage has otherworldly characteristics and I cannot remember a young vintage tasting so refined and demure. Light bunches and tiny Muscat de Frontignan berries underline just how unusual this vintage was and with a harvest that was a fortnight later than average and crops down by about 15% all of these facts make sense when you taste this ethereal wine. Aged for three years in a combination of 50% new French oak barrels, a small number of acacia barrels, as well as large format foudres, this is both a sensual and also sensitive wine. For a start, the colour is incredibly pale – think a young Sancerre! But the viscosity is amazing when you pour a glass because the liquid moves ever so slightly slower and more deliberately into the glass. The lights come on and the brain fires up immediately and it takes you by surprise just how quickly your olfactory system senses that you are in the presence of greatness. I was in a state of heightened anticipation, long before I raised the glass to my lips and the reward is exquisite. The perfume and palate combine in an astral haze of delight with orange blossom, fig, lemon verbena, wild honey and acacia notes caressing your senses. The texture is super-smooth, incredibly long and unnervingly gentle. It certainly possesses the longest finish I can remember on a Vin de Constance and I have, very fortunately, a tasted huge number of vintages of this wine. If you have never tasted this wine before, please start with this vintage – it will blow your mind. If you have and you are a fan, this is a critical purchase for your collection. I cannot wait to add this wine to my cellar later in the year.

Decanter (98)

Butterscotch, lemon patisserie and peach aromas. Pristine quality to the texture, lively and thrilling, this is a serious, opulent and powerful wine, more on the spiced, nuanced side with aspects of dried herbs, wood scents and bitter lemon and orange with a touch of honeyed lychee. It feels supremely complex and characterful. Sophisticated, layered and balanced with some minerality, a slight graphite edge all of which adds to the whole. It's still extremely youthful but there is real sculpting here, a sense of precision, style and freshness. Well crafted with an extremely long life ahead. A wonder, and one of the best from the estate!

Halliday Wine Companion (98)

Named after the family matriarch. Selection of the best parcels of fruit from the Polish Hill River estate. pH 2.93, TA 8.23 g/L, RS 3.1 g/L. Pikes' flagship, but also a Clare Valley flagship. It's not often a 6-month-old riesling can be described as luscious, but that's the impact of this wine. It's citrus focused, of course, and it also has keynote acidity, but it's the honeyed mouthfeel and flavour that hits the jackpot.

Wine Advocate (92)

Hints of eucalyptus and bay leaf appear on the nose of the 2017 Samantha's Garden Shiraz. Cola and plum notes fill out the full-bodied palate, balanced by crisp acids and some ripe, supple tannins. Like all of the Garden series wines, it should drink well for a decade.