The Old Faithful “Top of the Hill” Shiraz

The 2005 Shiraz “Top of the Hill” was aged in 60% new oak. Purple-colored, it offers up smoke, espresso, meat, game, and blueberry. Full-bodied, ripe, and opulent on the palate, the wine is mouth-filling and long in the finish. Give it 4–6 years to round out and drink it through 2025. The Old Faithful is a brand 50% owned by importer John Larchet, designed to express the quality of McLaren Vale fruit. Each cuvee is made in 300 case lots. 2005 is a great vintage in McLaren Vale and these wines support that conclusion.

Ripe black cherry flavors combine with sweet tannins to create a meltingly rich impression in this Shiraz. It feels chocolatey, cut by a touch of volatility that adds smoky complexity. For Middle Eastern lamb kabobs.

Inky violet. Suave, oak-accented raspberry, mulberry and mocha on the nose, with gentle floral and graphite qualities emerging with air. Silky in texture, displaying explosively sweet red and dark berry flavors and slow-building tannins. Expands and deepens on the long, seductively spicy finish. Impressive and delicious already.

Farmed from famed terroir, The Old Faithful is sourced from some of McLaren Vale’s oldest vineyard sites. This Shiraz is all about warmth and deep, chewy fruit. Dark ruby in color with a warm spice box nose and plenty of black berry fruit. Briary and concentrated; extremely delicious fruit flavors swirl on the broad, mouthfilling backbone of this satisfying red. Full-bodied with a long finish — outstanding complexity that I do not often find in Aussie wine.