2021 Kaesler Old Bastard Shiraz

The Kaesler Old Bastard Shiraz is a living piece of Barossa history, drawn from vines planted in 1893 and recognised worldwide as one of Australia’s great Shiraz benchmarks. Revitalised by Ed Peter and Reid Bosward in 1999, the vineyard continues to produce wines of remarkable power and pedigree, embodying both the character of the Barossa and the resilience of its oldest vines.

The 2021 season was widely hailed as brilliant, delivering a cool, dry ripening period that produced wines of purity, balance, and supple tannins. Hand harvested in the early morning of March 9th, the fruit was destemmed and fermented on skins for seven days with twice-daily remontage before pressing. After settling, the wine was matured for 18 months in French oak (50% new) and bottled in March 2023. A genuine 10/10 season has elevated this flagship to an exceptional expression of site, season, and craftsmanship.
Alc. 14.5%

Other Reviews....
I dragged a bottle of this wine over to New Zealand to drink with my father on his 70th birthday. He loved both the wine and the sentiment and the empty bottle still sits in his workshop. He's 87 now and still a magnificent old bastard, as is this wine. It's classic Barossa. Ancient vines planted 1893. It feels wise, like its parent vines have seen it all in their lifetimes, and I'm sure they have. Blackberry, black cherry and plum, layers of spice, pressed flowers, chocolate, earth, panforte and pan juices. It's full bodied but there's a loose-knit spaciousness to its form; all grace and latent power; tannins powdery fine and finish long and true. I love it. Drink 2024 - 2040.
96 Points
Dave Brookes - Halliday's Australian Wine Companion

Bold and complex aromas of blackberries, blood plums, mocha, mulberries and violets. The palate is full-bodied with a densely packed, creamy and generous mouthfeel, giving flavors of cured game meat, cassis, licorice and spices. Nicely constructed, with good tension and balance. Drink or hold.
96 Points
JamesSuckling.com

Planted in 1893, 12 rows.
Very old vines and a wine that is still very young. However, with time in the glass, it starts to shed its perfume gradually and gives detail one by one, layer by layer, showing the complexity that it carries. It’s not all quite merged yet, but time should do its job. First come the blue fruit, vanilla bean and braised meat. It has minty spice, liquorice, star anise, and tarragon family of aromas. The texture is this thick fabric of fruit that rolls out in a velvety manner in the mid-palate and tenses up on the sides. It keeps a long line of flavour, and sends iodine-bloody electric shock waves through your taste buds. Spice and perfumed cherry wood smoke flesh out in the back palate. Tannins are shaped in long slabs of graphite—shiny, smooth and fine to feel. It’s very much a moving and living wine that has a long life ahead. Funnily, the old bastard on the label doesn’t seem to age like the fine wine it has in the bottle. Drink 2028 - 2041+
97 Points
Kasia Sobiesiak - The Wine Front

Who doesn’t love the label? More importantly, who doesn’t love the wine in the bottle? This stunning Barossa Shiraz comes from a vineyard planted way back in 1983 and it is probably fair to say that in all the years since then, there have been very few vintages which can compete with 2021. Under cork, this is an opaque purple/maroon. Ripe, fragrant, generous and yet well poised, there is good concentration to this classic Barossa Shiraz. We have notes of chocolate, black fruits, cassis, cocoa powder, bay leaves, crushed herbs, mocha and coffee beans. Intense, sleek and with near perfect oak integration, the wine has immaculate balance, silky tannins and such a seductive texture. Amazing length, this is stunning stuff. A cracking Barossa Valley Shiraz which will easily handle two decades or more in the cellar. If this doesn’t thrill you then the Barossa is not for you. 2025 - 2045.
98 Points
Ken Gargett - WinePilot.com