Ranked #4 of 714 2018 Shiraz from South Australia
98/100
5 Stars
Bob Campbell
This is a wonderful example of St Henri and a powerful endorsement for ageing rich, powerful syrah in large, neutral casks to swing the spotlight firmly onto the wine's wonderful array of fruit, chocolate-mocha and savoury flavours without the distraction of oak. It envelopes the senses and promises to develop wonderfully with bottle age.
Tasted: 10/11/2021
Drink: 2021 to 2055
97 Points Robert Parker
The 2018 St Henri Shiraz is a terrific effort, perhaps rivaling the top-flight wines under this label in 1976 and 1986. Remarkably fine and silky in texture yet simultaneously dense and concentrated, it showcases the amazing fruit harvested in 2018. Boysenberry, mulberry and mocha shadings all swirl together effortlessly in a whorl of full-bodied elegance, finishing long and effortless. Mainly Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, it includes smaller amounts of fruit from Port Lincoln, Robe, Padthaway, Clare Valley and the Adelaide Hills, all aged 12 months in large old wooden vats. Drink 2021 - 2040.
Source: Robert Parker.
97 Points James Halliday
Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Port Lincoln, Robe, Padthaway, Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills fruit. Matured 12 months in 50+yo vats. The effortless, unassuming self-assuredness of St Henri holds a unique and beloved place in the assemblage of Penfolds heroes, and 2018 marks a particularly special release. Accomplished, spicy, glossy black fruits of grand integrity unfold to magnificent effect in the glass, contrasting a fine-boned frame of rigid yet graceful, powder-fine tannins that carry a finish of long-lingering line and alluring appeal. I look forward to spectating from the sidelines as its fruit slowly unfurls over the decades to come. An adorable St Henri that exemplifies all that this label stands for. Drink to 2058.
Source: James Halliday.
99 Points Andrew Caillard MW
Deep crimson. A beautiful St Henri vintage. Gorgeously seductive blackberry, mulberry, dark cherry, sweet plum aromas with dark chocolate, graphite, roasted walnut notes. Inky and sinuous palate with plentiful ripe blackberry, mulberry fruits, fine looseknit chalky tannins, superb mid-palate viscosity and underlying chinotto, roasted walnut notes. A standout vintage with superb middle-weight stature, fruit complexity and mineral length. Lovely to drink now but wait a few years to allow further development.
Source: Andrew Caillard MW.