2018 was one of the great Barossa vintages, and this Marananga shiraz - held in the winery cellar and released with seven years of age behind it - is extraordinary proof of that. One of the Barossa's true cult producers. Tiny production, mailing list only, discussed in wine circles with genuine reverence. When a bottle appears outside those channels, you take your opportunity. The nose is breathtaking - black fruits, cassis, blueberry, dark chocolate, aniseed, smoked meats and dried herbs woven together with remarkable complexity and balance. The palate is juicy and precise, with a line of acidity running the full length, silky tannins and a finish of extraordinary persistence that just keeps revealing more. Seven years of patient cellaring. Twenty more years of potential ahead. Cult Barossa shiraz from a legendary vintage. Rarely available outside the mailing list. Don't let this one get away.

For over 30 years this wine has been spoken about in the same breath as the greatest Shiraz produced anywhere in the country. That's not marketing. That's just the truth. The philosophy behind this wine is beautifully simple: find the very best fruit in the Barossa - the small, intensely concentrated parcels that outperform everything around them - and get out of the way. Over three decades of doing exactly that has produced a wine of legendary status. What was once powerful, muscular and demanding has evolved into something genuinely magnificent. The grunt is still very much there - this is Barossa Shiraz with serious backbone and presence - but time has worked its magic. The tannins have settled into something silky and sophisticated, the dark fruit has deepened and complexified, and the ironstone, graphite and earthy minerality that defines this wine has come into beautiful focus. This is a collector's wine. A cellar wine. A once-in-a-while, pour-it-for-someone-special wine.

We don't say this often. This producer is genuinely one of the best in the country, arguably one of the best anywhere Shiraz gets made. That's not just our words, Robert Parker called them, "one of planet earth's greatest winemakers". Developed, complex, smooth... This is one for people who take their Shiraz seriously. Get your nose in and it's an immediate gift for your senses - black cherry, blueberry and tangy currant, tangled up with crushed rose petal, peppercorn and olive tapenade, plus that distinctly McLaren Vale smoky, meaty undertone running underneath. Layered, savoury, hard to look away from. The palate is a different kind of statement entirely, leather, ripe dark fruit, tobacco notes and an otherworldly velvety mouthfeel, yet, there's real structure here. Time has done its job here. The edges have softened, everything's settled into place, and this is drinking exactly how it was always intended - developed, harmonious, deep. Very few Shiraz in the country are sitting at this stage of their life right now. This is a great opportunity.