2014 Ares Barossa Valley/McLaren Vale Shiraz Two Hands

How can you create a deep crimson- purple-coloured, luscious, deep-seated array of black fruits and full-on tannins rippling through the palate from start to finish with fruit at 14%? It's an outstanding achievement from any vintage, especially '14.

Really glossy, ripe and sweet blackberry fruits pervade the nose and palate. Very intense and delivered with plenty of spicy and earthy interest around the fruit. Just holds and folds on the finish a little here. Drink this younger while the fruit is pushing longest

The 2014 Shiraz Ares is the flagship Shiraz and is a barrel selection that sees two years in new and once used French oak. Inky colored, with a sumptuous bouquet of ripe black fruits, smoked meats, menthol, exotic spices, and hints of scorched earth, it stays tight and compact on the palate, with full- bodied richness, a big, dense mid-palate, and a big finish. It's holding things close to its vest and I suspect will be better with two to three years of bottle age and should keep for a decade.

Red Massive, dense and concentrated, with espresso, dark chocolate and dried herb flavors that work with the wall of dense tannins and the concentrated flavors of cassis and blackberry. Remains tight, with gravelly tannins on the finish, showing glimpses of a terrific wine that needs time to unwind. Best after 2020.-M.W.