The 2024 High Sands Grenache includes a little component of whole bunches for the first time. This component was vinified as 100% whole bunch, and this was added incrementally until the desired outcome was achieved—the total was only around 10% in the end. For me, the nose is fresher and more fragrant, the palate has more capaciousness, and the perfume translates with seamlessness and eloquence on the palate. The oak component is invisible (perhaps just a factor of the fruit character of the year, as the proportion of "new" or "how much" has not changed), and the fruit is a product of the sensational 2024 vintage. Wow. This is an important evolution in the history of this great wine, and while not all are developments that a (any) winemaker may choose, this one is both obvious and genius. This is an unbelievable wine. This is inherently McLaren Vale, which is emerging as a unique proposition in the global realm of fine Grenache.

It's hard not to feel a solemnity with these wines, the penultimate ones under the stewardship of the late Peter Fraser. Tasting the results of decades of hard work, deep thought and rare ability so lucidly on display in the glass. The irretrievable loss. But there’s some solace there, too, as the legacy feels indelible, for decades in the wines he made, but for generations in the talent he fostered and the makers he inspired. High Sands is the Yangarra polestar, and, having been privileged to taste a decade-deep vertical, the upward trajectory is as clear to me as it is exciting. Nothing changes that, and the team at Yangarra understands and can execute and develop the vision better than anyone ever could. The first year a whole-bunch portion was used, making up 15% of the final blend, with another parcel two and a half months on skins, with maturation in ceramic eggs and old, thick-walled Austrian oak. Increasingly, I find this a hard wine to judge, so special is its place in Australian wine. A thing I admire is the incremental shift to more elegance, a lesson learned in the cooler years, then applied to the warmer ones. This has a little more matter than the '23, tracing the conditions, but the detail, definition and finesse are constants. It is generally mandatory to use flav(more...)

Deep red-purple colour with a complex bouquet comprising dried cherry, earthy/stony notes, cola and dried herbs, while the flavours of black cherry, plum and spice build in the mouth, leaving a long tail of cola and herb tonic, the tannins lavish but fine and supple, and in superb balance swirling around the core of sweet fruit. Power and elegance combined. A very intense, top-level grenache that will age superbly, although it drinks remarkably well right now.

Fresh and vibrant with fruit-driven aromas of wild red and black berries, pomegranate, red-apple skin and dark cherries alongside spices, red licorice, rose petals, violets and dried strawberries. The pure, refined palate has generous texture brought together by firmly framed tannins and a bright line of acidity, while the seamlessly integrated structure gives this wine years of aging potential. A lovely mineral tension underpins the fruit, adding to the seriousness of this excellent release. Drink or hold. Screw cap.