Complex licorice, spice and sweet earth overtones to blackberry, plum, dark chocolate and licorice; medium to full-bodied; marvellous tannin management. Barossa/Eden Valley. High quality cork.

David Powell, unquestionably one of the world's finest wine producers, has an uncanny ability to discover old vine Barossa vineyards, and then secure long term contracts for their fruit. It is amazing that such high quality sources have not already been plucked by Australia's giant wine corporations. Torbreck's wines continue to get better and better, combining the old vine ripe fruit of Barossa with a European sensitivity to elegance and balance. The 2003 The Struie is a 4,000-case blend of cooler climate, high altitude Eden Valley fruit combined with small amounts of Barossa grapes. Aged 8 months in wood (20% new), it is a deep, chewy, fleshy effort displaying floral, peppery, incense notes intermixed with white chocolate, blackberry, and black currant characteristics.

Fleshy, forward, liqueurous, floral, lifted, like watching a shiraz peep show. Everything is on open display. Blackcurrant, plums, a graze of coffee, a blow of gunsmoke " it's upfront, it's at you, it supple, it's pretty damn good.