For the first time, Ox Hardy has released a 'current vintage' of this flagship wine from 1891 ancestor vines. From a great McLaren Vale year, all elements fell in place to produce some stellar wines.
Seeing 15% new French oak for two years before release, this is something to savour.
The oak in this wine is more delicately handled compared to the 2015 Museum Release that it was tasted alongside.
Blackberries, blackcurrants and licorice bullets set the scene with a pretty dried purple flower perfume. It's a wine with fabulous complexity but it's not weighty and overbearing as some may assume. Flickers of red fruits try to emerge but the black fruits hold court. It glides about like melted chocolate leaving a seductive calling card before a grainy and powdery tannin profile has the last word. A wine of supreme excellence, sip slowly and embrace every drop. I sure did!
Drink to fifteen years+
97/100
Region: McLaren Vale
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