Di Fabio Bushvine Reserve Shiraz 2018

This Shiraz comes from old bush-vines in the prestigious Blewitt Springs sub-region, which produces fruit with exceptional concentration and complexity. The Di Fabio family's generational expertise, combined with their transition from premium grape suppliers to winemakers, brings a unique perspective that focuses on showcasing the terroir rather than overpowering it. The comprehensive oak treatment regime creates a wine that's full-bodied yet maintains elegance and drinkability.

This wine demonstrates exceptional aging potential, having already shown beautiful drinking qualities for five years and projected to continue for at least another five years. The museum release designation indicates it's been carefully aged before release, while the old vine fruit provides the structural backbone necessary for extended cellaring. The balanced tannin structure and comprehensive oak treatment suggest it will develop additional complexity with proper storage.

The rich blackberry and dark cherry flavours, combined with milk chocolate and sweet spice notes, make this wine perfect for robust dishes like grilled lamb, aged beef steaks, or game meats. The cedar and liquorice characteristics complement dishes with herbs like rosemary or thyme, while the plum notes pair beautifully with rich, slow-cooked stews or barbecued meats with smoky flavours.

The 96-point rating reflects the wine's exceptional balance between power and elegance - a hallmark of premium McLaren Vale Shiraz. The old bush-vine fruit from Blewitt Springs provides intense concentration without heaviness, while the Di Fabio family's meticulous winemaking creates layers of complexity. The wine's ability to drink beautifully across multiple decades, combined with its rich yet refined character, demonstrates the quality that critics recognise in top-tier Australian Shiraz.

Bush-vines are old, ungrafted vines trained without trellising systems, typically over 35 years old, that produce smaller yields of intensely concentrated fruit. These vines develop deep root systems that access unique mineral profiles in the soil, contributing to the wine's complexity and distinctive terroir expression. The lower yields from bush-vines mean each grape carries more concentrated flavours, resulting in wines with greater depth, structure, and aging potential than those from younger, higher-yielding vines.