Halliday Wine Companion | Dave Brookes | August 2025
Wine Companion Top 100 Australian Wineries 2024 - #70
....Torbreck has been bookended with a good run of La Niña vintages. "The wines we've made from those seasons have really lovely fragrance and lots of charming density and suppleness to them, which is reflected by the nature of the season. So it's been very pleasing, particularly for shiraz, and the kind of wines and style we can make. We're obviously still looking for something that's got density and power and volume across the palate, but also when you can add that sort of fragrance and thread that into the wines, it makes them quite special."
98
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
The Laird 2019
Sourced from a single block of 1958-planted shiraz on the border of Maranaga and Seppeltsfield; matured for 36 months in new French oak coopered by Dominique Laurent. This wine always makes my head spin, in the best way possible. It's prodigiously proportioned with superb concentration and fruit density: blackberry, black cherry, cassis cut with hints of tobacco leaf, dark chocolate, Christmas cake, vanilla bean, bay leaf, sarsaparilla, wood spice, roasting meats, panforte, cedar and mahogany and earth. All at volume. All singing from the same hymn sheet. Layers of spice with thick-shouldered powdery tannins sedimentary and melting back into the fruit. For a wine of such horsepower, it has grace and balance and there is no doubt it will age for decades. A stunner.
97
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
The Forebear 2019
From 12 rows (1 acre) of 1850s-planted Lyndoch shiraz that, since 2014, has been rejuvenated by Torbreck viticulturist Nigel Blieschke and, in 2019, guided to bottle by winemaker Ian Hogell. Deep magenta/crimson with aromas of macerated red plum, blueberry and red cherry fruits, it's a wine deeply etched with spice, clove, sandalwood, nutmeg and mace, with hints of mocha, cortado, salted licorice, cedar and earth. It's the higher tones that grab you, though, the jasmine, violets and citrus blossom. Finer, more fragrant and flighty than The Laird, with an increase in floral top notes instead of sheer latent power and ferruginous tannin heft. Subregionality writ large, and that is a beautiful thing. A stellar inaugural release.
97
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
RunRig 2021
Pour moi, since Ian Hongel took over the reigns at Torbreck, the house 'thumbprint' seems less percussive, the trademark Torbreck plushness remains, but subregion and site seem to have a little more light on it. The RunRig in a strong vintage is always much anticipated. Shiraz with 2% viognier, from across Torbreck's best sites, aged for 30 months in French oak (50% new). It's a dark-eyed, powerful release, with clove-studded blackberry and black plum fruits and deep, dark spices, cardamom, star anise, licorice, espresso, cedar, 'Old Jamaican' chocolate and earth. Thick-shouldered and meaty with layers of silty, fine tannin and a crème de cassis-like flow to the fruit as it powers off.
95
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
The Factor 2021
Old-vine shiraz sourced across the famous parishes of the Barossa Valley. Deep magenta/crimson with aromas of satsuma plum, blackberry and black cherry fruits cut with hints of clove, kirsch, dark fruit and nut chocolate, cherry ripe, distant tobacco, ironstone, baking spices and turned earth. Weighty, darkly concentrated and intense; cedar and wood spice join the fray on the palate with a display of superfine, compact tannins and a real sense of latent power and broody spice on the extended finish.
96
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
Descendant 2021
A Marananga-born blend of 94/6 per cent shiraz/viognier from the strong 2021 vintage. I guess the Descendant could be considered the 'Baby Run Rig', though, in reality, this probably does the wine a disservice. It's lovely. High-toned and perfumed with some juicy stone fruit tones suffusing through the unctuous spiced plum fruits. Hints of blueberry pie, citrus blossom, veal jus, Chinese barbecue shop, soul-like spice. dried citrus rind, biltong and clove. Velvety in its flow with creamy oak, fine, kinetic tannins and a real textural swell as it slowly fades away. A cracking release
95
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
Les Amis 2021
Grenache sourced from the gnarled old vines of the Slade vineyard in Greenock; matured 24 months French barrique (40% new). Pure dark plum fruits studded with clove and exotic spice along with hints of cola, pomegranate, star anise, tamarind, ginger cake, dried citrus rind with a touch of amaro and blood orange. It's a deeper, darker more powerful style and displays the perfectly poised fruit of a great vintage. Plenty of clovey depth with this release, with some superfine tannin and sarsaparilla wildness coming through at the end.
94
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
The Struie 2022
The Struie is Torbreck's blend of shiraz from vineyards in the Barossa and Eden valleys. Deep cassis and doris plum fruit tones with perhaps a little more blue fruits compared to the 2021 release. Hints of baking spices, sage, mace, bay leaf, roasting meats, panforte, pastis and dark chocolate. The trademark Torbreck fruit depth and concentration is certainly in play with tight, fine sandy tannins and a sense of freshness to its travel, finishing lush and long
94
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
The Steading 2022
In 2022, the Steading blend is 50/31/19 per cent grenache/shiraz/mataro and is the picture of the contemporary Barossan GSM. Red and blue fruits predominately, with a flash of blueberry and cranberry providing the high tones. Plenty of detail and delineation, the gingery spiced grenache and meaty-edged mataro clearly visible and simpatico with the shiraz fruit tones. There's some pith to the fine, sandy tannins and a mineral sapidity to its savoury endpoint. Great drinking. Consistently.
94
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
Kyloe Mataro 2022
As should be expected from the variety, there is a meaty, exotically-framed underbelly to this rich and undeniably drinkable wine. Blueberry and satsuma plum conserve-style fruit tones cut with broody spice and tones of roasting game, sarsaparilla, biltong, struck flint, pressed purple flowers and dried citrus rind. It's got a creaminess to its rich fruit profile, pillowy tannins, too, and a real sense of harmonious flow as it trails off.
94
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
Harris Grenache 2022
Single-site grenache from the Harris Vineyard in Marananga, aged for 18 months in 2400L French oak foudré. Crimson in the glass with juicy blueberry and red cherry/raspberry fruits cut with spice, gingerbread, sarsaparilla, cola, earth, dried citrus blossom, sandalwood, red-berry cream and curing meats. There's a creamy, juicily fruited, spicy feel here. Pillowy tannins, bright acidity and a beautifully pure sense of flow on the palate.
92
Dave Brookes
WINE COMPANION
Woodcutter's Shiraz 2022
The Torbreck Woodcutter's Shiraz has always represented excellent value, with fruit sourced from Marananga, Greenock, Seppeltsfield, Gomersal, Moppa, Lyndoch and Ebenezer. Deep magenta, with aromas of juicy blueberry and satsuma plum conserve along with exotic spice, purple flowers, sandalwood, bay leaf, chocolate bullets, dried citrus and earth. Juicy with some nice fresh acidity, fine, sandy tannin grip and some rich fruitcake tones on the exit.
