Old-vine magic. Some even come from 1858. The decadence and dusty, antique aromas and flavors are very impressive, yet it’s not overdone. Licorice, dark berries, smoke and graphite. A blend of 98% shiraz and 2% viognier. Better in 2021.

(97+ points) The 2016 RunRig comes from a warm, dry vintage that was responsible for red wines of great power and presence. The rain that feel during this season was remarkably well timed at all points. Aromatically, the wine leads with all its inkiness and power: saturated raspberry, black cherry, pomegranate, licorice and star anise. In the mouth, the wine has a cocoa/chocolate sweetness and thick textural structure. This is a wine of intensity and power, and stylistically, it aligns itself with the 2010 vintage. This is a rip-snorter of a wine that will age for many decades. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. - Erin Larkin

Saturated violet. A deeply perfumed bouquet displays ripe black and blue fruits, exotic spices, potpourri and incense that are enlivened by a smoky mineral topnote. Offers alluringly sweet, penetrating cherry, blueberry, violet floral pastille and spicecake flavors show impressive focus and vivacity for their brawn. The floral and spice notes come back emphatically on the wonderfully long finish, which features smoothly interwoven tannins and a reverberating mineral note. -- Josh Raynolds

Restrained and elegant, opening up with ripe black and red fruit flavors. Touches of black licorice and black walnut liqueur plump up the sense of concentration. The tannins are dense but polished, never getting in the way of the harmony. Elements of clove and tobacco emerge on the finish. Shiraz and Viognier. Drink now through 2039. 161 cases imported. — MW

This is old-vine dry-grown shiraz blended with two percent viognier, aged for 30 months in French oak barriques, half of them new. As dark and inky as this wine’s concentration may be, it feels cool, zesty and elegant, with fresh black-currant flavors and a bristle of grape-skin tannins against the chocolate richness of the oak tannins. It’s smoky and spicy and hard to see into right now, built for years of development in the bottle.

Torbreck is known for its rich, powerful and unmistakably Barossa reds and the 2016 vintage doesn't disappoint. While addition of a little Viognier is more evident on Torbreck's Descendant wine than on here, the Shiraz offers a deep well of ripe plums and cherries, licorice, peppery spice and meaty earthy green-herbal nuances, along with plenty of toasty oak influence. The palate is plush, dense and oaky, gripped tightly by savory granular tannins. This needs time and plenty of it. Drink 2022–2039. CHRISTINA PICKARD