2020 Yangarra Hickinbotham Grenache

Other Reviews....
From old, unirrigated vines at Hickinbotham, in Clarendon.The only cuvée produced outside of Yangarra Estate. Destemmed, crushed and tipped into a ceramic egg where it remained on skins for 170 days. Gorgeous. Pinosity in spades. Noble bitterness. Lavender and white pepper. Pink grapefruit pulp and sapid, sour-cherry accents. Like the most glorious amaro with a slice of Sicilian orange, this plays a finessed card of consummate elegance, racy length, crunchy saline tannins and latent power. Brethren to Ovitelli in terms of shape, if not a bit looser and more flamboyant at the seams. A belly dancer in a souk of carnal desire. Scintillating, uber-aromatic grenache. Drink by 2030.
95 Points
Ned Goodwin MW - James Halliday's Wine Companion (February 2022)

From Clarendon, a small plot planted in 1962. Raised in anfora, with 72% remaining on skins for a whopping 156 days. Yes!
Spicy, floral, raspberry, red cherry, a sweet clay-like earthiness, almond and flowering basil? Well, hello McLaren Vale Burgundy. Fresh raspberry, a little earthy and nutty, but succulent, and yet, all this firm brick dusty tannin pushing through, almost peppery in a way, a smattering of dried herb, some cranberry acidity on a long slightly warm finish, but gee energy is pulsating through this wine. It’s terrific. Drink 2023 - 2030+
95 points
Gary Walsh - The Wine Front (May 2022)

While the 2020 Ovitelli has this levity, purity and freshness above and beyond Hickinbotham, there’s no doubting the pedigree, tannin prowess and finesse of this wine. I prefer the drinkability and drive of Ovitelli, but I admire the Hickinbotham more, in a way. Richness, ripeness of fruit, lifted on trails of pomegranate juice and rose hip tea, grippy tannins go gummy and draw the wine long, it has a mouth-watering fresh finish at the lingering depths of the red fruit characters. Dried herbs, anise, fennel, brambles, some hazelnut and ashy clove for complexity. Serious stuff, very, very good. Drink 2023 - 2030+
95 points
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front (May 2022)