94
James Halliday - Australian Wine Companion
"Single vineyard, wild yeast-fermented and bottled without fining or filtration. The highly expressive bouquet has an odd couple of red fruits and black spices, the palate continuing its demand for mixed metaphors to cope with the bright globe of red fruits in a perfectly drawn circle at the heart of the palate, surrounded by more savoury, brambly flavours; at the last moment a river of juicy flavour escapes from the centre, and runs through the back-palate and aftertaste."
94 Gary Walsh - The Wine Front
"Perfume, blackcurrant and blackberry, meat, spice, sweetly stalky herbal aromatic - hinting at licorice even. Medium bodied and fine boned with slaty mineral acidity, spicy black fruit, and even a subtle chocolate flavour (Luke!), then sweet and dry and savoury all at once. Length goes on. It's a fine release."
93 Josh Raynolds - Vinous Media
"(made with 40% whole clusters): Pungent aromas of cherry-cola, cassis and woodsmoke are lifted by fresh floral and Indian spice qualities. Densely packed and lively on the palate, offering juicy dark berry flavors and a suave velvety texture. Opens up quickly with air, showing outstanding clarity and thrust. The smooth, sweet finish features harmonious tannins and lush blackberry preserve and allspice flavors."
"Cellar Tracker median score 91 points across 8 notes (May 2017).
The quality of the clonal material in Tibooburra supplies Lambert with deeper and darker Syrah fruit that also has more depth and structure. This is what drew him to the site. As usual this is fermented without yeast additions and raised in Lambert's 30-year-old, large-format oak before bottling without fining or filtration. The whole-bunch quota this year was 40 per cent and the only sulphur addition was added pre-bottling. Whilst still a wine of great restraint and finesse, it is more muscular than previous releases of this wine and there isn't an ounce of fat, the aromatic palate douses every crevice of the mouth with its perfumed Syrah fruit. The finish has a subtle, bouquet garrigue note and a lacy, minerally structure, which promises much for the future.
The 2012 is 40% whole cluster and from one of the latest ripening sites in the Yarra Valley and still only comes in at 13% alcohol. There is plenty of ripe fruit but not sweet flavors. This is Southern Hemisphere Hermitage and Luke is unquestionably one of the true pioneers of the ‘new’ Australia. He has been making wines in a ‘restrained’ (terroir-driven) style for more than ten years and yet he still seems like the new kid on the block." -Importer
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