Aromatic and distinctive, with oolong tea, sage and a touch of lavender, plus accents of salted toffee to complement the core of blueberry and blackberry notes. Delivers dense but fine-grained tannins, firming up on the finish, where cigar box notes linger. Shiraz and Viognier. Drink now through 2030. 865 cases made, 200 cases imported.??–MW??Region: Australia / Barossa / Barossa Valley Select to Add

Tasting the RunRig beside the Descendant is always a wise move, in order to gain some contextual understanding of how they are similar and, perhaps more importantly, how they differ. This 2020 RunRig was sourced from six different vineyards across Barossa (in Lyndoch, Rowland Flat, Moppa, Ebenezer, Light Pass and Greenock) and includes a 2% "dosage" (as winemaker Ian Hongell described it) of Viognier. Matured for 30 months in a combination of new French oak (50%) and second and third fill barrels, the wine rests on its lees for that time. The lower percentage of Viognier here is a seductive and effective thing, adding just enough slick and polish to make this the sybaritic wine that it is, but little enough to allow the grunt, grit and muscle of the Shiraz from all those glorious locations to shine through. Despite the very long time in oak, the wine is balanced and excellent, big in almost every possible way but with an undeniable sense of class and length of flavor. Executed with detail and precision, this wine is clearly defined in its expression of house style.

Stunning, showing a polished and expressive mix of rich dark chocolate, sticky toffee pudding and cigar box nuances to a core of spiced plum, kirsch and apricot. The spice and cedar details gain momentum on the long, velvety and expressive finish, where a thread of rosemary oil lingers. Shiraz and Viognier. Drink now through 2035. 229 cases imported.??–MW??Region: Australia / Barossa / Barossa Valley Select to Add

The... how to describe this... it's like a kaleidoscopic vortex of midnight flavor (dark, dense, brooding and spicy), swirling tannins and endlessly plush length. The Viognier in this 2019 RunRig has been absorbed somehow, compressed by the warm, low-yielding vintage that birthed it. It has been pushed down into the reaches of the Shiraz, which is a very good thing, as its propensity for slinky-like bounce and spiral needs some limiting. This is insanely complex yet also balanced. Charry oak frames the wines from all sides, but like the gravity pull on the earth from the sun, the oak is drawn inexorably inward. Pretty impressive, but this wine always is. A beast unto itself, wines like this have few peers.

There's a floral note of dried lavender to the dried apricot and fresh black cherry flavors at the core, with accents of Earl Grey tea, sweet spices and cigar box. A touch of cedar and minerality lingers in the background, with polished tannins. Shiraz and Viognier. Drink now through 2036. 54 cases imported.??–MW??Region: Australia / Barossa / Barossa Valley Select to Add