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2018 Maxwell Four Roads Grenache

McLaren Vale, South Australia, AUSTRALIA
$22. 99
Bottle
$275.88 Dozen
Cellar: Drink now - 5 Years (2020-2025)
ABV: 14.5%
Closure: Stelvin

Maxwell’s old Grenache vines have grown on a contoured hill for over 90 years. Bush vines until a few years ago, with thick trunks and sprawling arms, they were recently lifted up and put on a trellis wire to keep them ripening evenly as they grow older. The soil profile is a light loam over some clay and then deep limestone.

Rich, sumptuous and bursting with intense ripe berry fruits, this is a brilliant McLaren Vale Grenache.

Matured in old oak for 15 months. Deep dark red colour with black tinged edgings and a bright red hue. Lofty aromatics of ripe dark raspberries, plum, liquorice and dark cherries are followed by vanillin cedar and spice notes. Rich, generous and supple, lavish dark raspberry, ripe cherry and liquorice fruits show remarkable intensity and power with elements of dark chocolate, vanillin oak and spice chiming in on the back half. Silky smooth tannins finishing with a just a lick of freshness on the long succulent aftertaste.
Drink over the next 4-5 years.
Alc. 14.5%

Other Reviews…..
This is firmly of place, with pumice to chalky tannins corralling molten kirsch, cranberry, pomegranate, anise and vanilla pod scents; salty acidity propelling it all long. A fine Grenache reflective of an exciting time in the Vale. Drink by 2024.
95 points
Ned Goodwin – James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion

Aged in older barrels, the 2018 Four Roads Grenache comes from 90+-year-old vines. Like most top McLaren Vale Grenaches, it shows bright acidity in conjunction with ripe, supple tannins. It's full-bodied and generous, loaded with strawberries, cranberries and some delicate herbal nuances that come across as almost herbal tea-like on the lingering, silky finish. Drink 2020-2025.
93 points
Joe Czerwinski – Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate