Wine Spectator 94 points - Lithe and juicy. A lively mouthful of raspberry, currant, coffee and peppery spice flavors, lingering enticingly on the fine-grained finish. Shows a bit of heat on the finish, but has tremendous depth and persistence. A bit tight now, this can benefit from cellaring. Shiraz. Best from 2010 through 2018. 1,200 cases made. –HS (Jun 15 2008)
Wine Advocate 98 points - As good as the preceding wines may be, they pale in the shadow of the 2005 Shiraz "Old Bastard,” sourced from a 114-year-old vineyard, and which spent 22 months in new and one-year-old French oak. It presents a superb perfume of cedar, violets, lavender, smoked meat, game, black raspberry, and blueberry. This leads to a voluptuous, velvety-textured, layered, super concentrated Shiraz in perfect balance with well-concealed tannins and a 60-second, pure finish. Give it 6-8 years and drink it through 2035. (Oct 2007)
