“I’d drink this with a bone-in dry aged rib eye and the most loyal best mate you’ve got. If that’s your dog even better, more wine for you.” – WinePilot

Are you ready for the BIG ONE?

It’s SHIRAZ SATURDAY! And boy, have we landed a whale. We are massive fans of Mount Langi Ghiran… We’ve been chasing this one for years harder than Ahab’s hunt for Moby Dick.

DOUBLE 98 Points, in a nod to Crocodile Dundee, Halliday puts it simply. “This is a wine.”

With decades of cellar potential, it’s often compared by consumers and critics alike to top Hermitage! AND at 50% off a fraction of the price of the best from Chapoutier ($250+) or Chave ($500+!).

The ‘Langi’ bottling stands tall among the best – Google ‘Top Australia Shiraz’, and it’ll be there among other giants like Henske ‘Hill of Grace’ and Torbreck ‘RunRig’ (also available TODAY!)

The winery Wine Spectator loves “started in 1969, Mount Langi Ghiran, is known for its crisp, vibrant style of Victorian Shiraz” is also one of Agent Noir and Agent Rôtie’s absolute favorite under the radar Aussies.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate has the background: “Mount Langi Ghiran is out there - literally. Its location in the heart of the Grampians is incredibly remote and has a far cooler growing season than many might imagine until you consider it is placed at an altitude of around 350 meters. Amongst the ancient granite mountains of this region, the vineyards were originally planted in 1964, establishing this estate as one of Australia’s leaders of cool climate Shiraz.”

Vinous backs up that praise in a recent article, “Trevor Mast from Mount Langi Ghiran was one of the first locals to truly capitalize on the region’s potential. When Mast’s 1994 Langi Shiraz graced the cover of Wine Spectator in 1996 alongside Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace, modern Victorian Shiraz was finally on the map. Mount Langi Ghiran remains a leading and dependable voice in the Grampians to this day.”

The source of this masterpiece? Their Old Block is a high-altitude vineyard sited between the eponymous Mount Langi Ghiran and Mount Cole whose cool climate ads loads of freshness and spice to the ripe fruit flavors. It was planted in 1969 (52 years-old at this harvest!) with a one-hundred-forty-year-old Shiraz clone – one that predates Phylloxera in the Rhone, some of the oldest genetic material for the grape in the world! This unique clone thrives in the climate of the Grampians, the age of the vines ensuring plenty of concentration to its hallmark red-blue fruit, cracked pepper, and exotic flavors.

If you LOVE big, spice reds, it deserves a place in your cellar. Consider this… You’ll see below the Wine Advocate thought this wine can go the distance for another two decades. They tasted the 2004 at the same time, and at twenty years of bottle age gave it yet another two decades (Drink 2024-2044)! It’s a safe bet this one will stand the test of time.

Disclaimer: Like their other wines, this ain’t your big, bold, Barossa-style bruiser. Rather, as we alluded to, it’s an Hermitage in disguise. With loads of concentration and muscularity, it remains elegant, floral, freshly herbed, gloriously perfumy, ethereally gamey, and a deeply peppered take on Shiraz. It was love at first sip for us, and it’s taken us years to score this small allocation.

We’re grabbing several for our cellar, and you should too. But you’ll have to act fast!

98 Points – James Halliday “Grown on the estate’s ‘Old Block’ of shiraz vines, planted in 1969. It spent 16 months in French oak barriques (50% new). It’s a magnificent release. It’s fluid, elegant and controlled but, just a bit, it also stamps its feet and says: the world is mine. It’s awash with cherry/plum, peanut shell, black pepper and floral flavours, and it’s both silken to the touch, and (super) long through the finish. This is a wine. Drink 2026-2044.”

98 Points – WinePilot “Sourced from the sacred Old Block site and matured in French barriques for 16 months of which 50% was new. There is a potency to the black fruit. Blackberries, bilberry and black christmas cherries. So too, is rhubarb and redcurrant dispersed throughout. A medley of clove, caraway and carob spice. The fruit concentration is dense, dark and deeply detailed, backed by the artful tailoring of oak spice. A cascade of fresh acidity uplifts the palate and then floods it with cassia bark, black truffles and cocoa nibs. There is such energy and solid foundations in the framework of this wine. It’s an absolute superstar wine and this vintage is on song. A benchmark for cool climate Shiraz. Drink now and will cellar well for 10 years plus. I’d drink this with a bone-in dry aged rib eye and the most loyal best mate you’ve got. If that’s your dog even better, more wine for you. Drink 2024-2034+”

97 Points – Decanter “Ethereal, with granite and black pepper-sluiced fresh, persistent raspberry and blackberry fruit, a dancing backbone of acidity and dynamic, spiralling tannins. Awash with spices and violets – delicious detail – the long, elegant finish has a lick of milk chocolate and compelling, peppery, meaty, mineral back-palate resonance. From a long, relatively mild growing season, the harvest for this beautifully balanced vintage finished on 28 April. 100% whole-berry ferment. Drink 2024-2046.”

96+ Wine Advocate “The Mount Langi Ghiran estate sort of emerges from the highlands and feels nestled in a remote part of Western Victoria. It’s an incredible pretty place, and on the day I visited, the skies were blue and the temperature close and hot. The cicadas were out in full force. The canopies were huge, and the fruit load on the vines was decent. The 2021 Langi Shiraz is blue-fruited and aromatic, with black spice and olive brine, field flowers and crushed rocks. It is kind of ethereal in its way. It has an authentic feeling, of the earth, and it’s floral, fine and long, with substance and finesse. This is a superstar wine; it’s really great. No whole-bunch grapes were used in this vintage. The block was largely planted in 1969. 14.8% alcohol (although if I had to guess, I would have said it was almost a whole percent less, such is its delicacy), sealed under screw cap. Drink 2024-2045.”