Ratings & Tasting Notes:
98 points Wine Advocate
The 2019 The Forebear Shiraz is the inaugural release of this wine, positioned alongside the Laird. The fruit is sourced from the oldest plantings in the Hillside Vineyard in Lyndoch—12 rows planted in the early 1850s. The wine is astounding. It is inky black in its fruit spectrum, infused from all sides with gravelly tannin that feel both velvety and gritty; there’s loads of chewy tannin to support the kaleidoscopic fruit, and monumental length. This is a very impressive wine, memorable and precise. I can understand why a single vineyard was made from this special parcel. So, on the nose, you get mulberry, blackberry, blueberry and ironstone, rust, blood plum, raspberry pip, aniseed, sumac and clove. The tannins splay across the palate and leave a trail of ferruginous spice in their wake, with inflections of ras el hanout, pomegranate molasses, pink peppercorns and roast beef crust. This is a whopping wine. Superb. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork and wax, with a black front label. Erin Larkin, April 4, 2024
97 points James Suckling
A brand new cuvee. The inaugural release comprises fruit from a proprietary property in Lyndoch, documented as the second winery built in the Barossa Valley. Vineyard planted in 1850s on its own rootstock. I really like this. An earlier picked site, spending two years in oak and three years in the bottle pre-release. Despite the typical Barossan weight, there is ample freshness. Baking spice, licorice, saturated dark fruit, iodine and forest accents. The tannin structure is chewy and nourishing. Long finish. Plenty to get the teeth into. This is an excellent wine. Drinkable now, but best from 2030. Ned Goodwin, February 22, 2024
97 points Wine Spectator
A stunning red wine, this starts off spicy, with distinctive notes of Saigon cinnamon, cardamom and clove adding warmth and depth to the generous core of black fruit flavors and blackberry preserves. Offers hints of dried herbs, tobacco and cedar, along with a slice of Black Forest cake that lingers on the finish. Shiraz. Drink now through 2044. 100 cases made, 8 cases imported. MaryAnn Worobiec, October 16, 2024
Cult Wines International Notes:
Torbreck Vintners, established in the Barossa Valley in 1994, is a benchmark of Australian winemaking, globally revered for its mastery of Rhône-style varietals and a fierce devotion to preserving the region’s historic old vines. Named after a Scottish forest where the founder once worked as a lumberjack, the winery operates on a philosophy of minimal intervention, acting as a custodian to showcase the deep concentration and complexity born from ancient, dry-farmed soils. Launched as an ultra-premium peer to their legendary ‘The Laird,’ ‘The Forebear’ represents a monumental milestone for the estate. This monumental cuvée is sourced entirely from a single, historic one-acre parcel within the Hillside Vineyard in Lyndoch. Planted by pioneering European settlers in the early 1850s, these pre-phylloxera, own-rooted ancestor vines are Torbreck’s oldest living viticultural treasures, yielding an elite Shiraz defined by unmatched power, precision, and a profound connection to Barossa heritage.
The 2019 growing season in the Barossa Valley was a grueling test of endurance, resulting in a historically low-yielding but extraordinarily concentrated inaugural vintage. The cycle was plagued by three separate major spring frosts, followed by wind and hail at flowering, which severely decimated crop levels. A continuously warm, scorched summer with virtually no effective rainfall followed, forcing the ancient, deep-rooted vines to rely entirely on their historic resilience. While these severe conditions led to an incredibly small harvest of tiny, thick-skinned berries, the intensely concentrated fruit brought immense structural power to the fermenters. The 2019 ‘The Forebear’ emerged from this climatic furnace as an absolute blockbuster, marrying an inky, kaleidoscopic core of mulberry, ironstone, and exotic baking spices with dense, velvety tannins and a surprising, site-specific freshness that guarantees decades of graceful cellar evolution.
Bottle Size:
750 mL
Storage History:
Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.
Condition:
Please note: The bottle shown is the exact bottle being sold.
Outstanding condition.
