2018 Spinifex Rostein Vineyard Flaxman Valley Shiraz

Winemaker Peter Schell has been working with the Rostein vineyard since 2015 but 2018 was the first vintage exceptional enough for it to be produced in it’s own right. Ageing takes place in barriques and demi-muids for a period of 18 months.
Superb depth of colour featuring a super saturated inky black core and a very deep dark red black hue. Potent ripe blackberry, liquorice, dark plum and dark chocolate scents waft out of the glass with trailing faintly smoked vanillin cedar, delicate earth and spicy mocha notes also evident. The full bodied palate combines weight and richness with a sense of refinement. Dense ripe blackberry, liquorice and dark chocolate flavours meld with spicy vanillin cedar, earth and mocha like characters. A sturdy yet polished tannin structure and underlying fresh acidity provide great balance. Excellent power and finesse with a long conclusion that has an elegant sense of opulence to it.
Cellar 8-10 years.
Alc. 13.5%

Other Reviews....
Flaxman Valley really feels like it’s dress circle Eden these days. Maybe always, definitely where the best wines I like drinking seem to come from now. Or at least on a small litmus test. Anyway, fancy release from Spinfex, probably long overdue really. Yep, glass stopped in the neck.
Blue fruits, crushed rocks, light spice, cola, some eucalyptus, fennel and minty notes. Yum smells. Palate is lush but controlled, deeply flavoured, ripples with fine swishes of tannin and finds cool acidity underlying, minerally and freshening. A gulpable red but one that asks for attention – lots of detail here, lots to sit and pause on. Some tension in the finish too; it speaks of save some for later. A very, very good shiraz. Drink 2020 - 2035.
95 Points
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front (December 2020)

First release. Hand picked, no whole bunches. Wild-yeast fermented then matured for 12 months in 50% new barriques and demi-muids. A grand newcomer for Spinifex, this is the first time this vineyard has stepped up since it was purchased in 2014. Signature Eden Valley shiraz of full purple hue, reverberating with deep-set spice, powerful blackberry and satsuma plum fruit, fresh licorice and a full serve of dark chocolate oak. Impressive concentration is consummately backed with a fine yet taut frame of intricately suspended tannins that carry the finish very long indeed. Drink by 2032.
96 Points
Tyson Stelzer - James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion (January 2021)

This has an assertive, red-cherry and blackberry nose with crushed stones, graphite and abundant fragrant spices, buried deep in black fruit. The palate has dense tannins and very intense, concentrated, blackberry and blood-plum flavors. Chiseled, compressed, velvety and powerful. Needs three to four years.
98 Points
JamesSuckling.com (December 2020)