The quiet Barossan cult Shiraz? Exploring the 2022 Eisenstone releases.

Standish, Powell & Sons, Sami-Odi, Eisenstone. One of these names doesn’t receive anywhere near the same recognition (or prices) as the other three despite making wines that easily jostle with the rest.

Let’s call Stephen Cook’s Eisenstone label the quieter Barossan cult Shiraz maker.

The ingredients here are undoubted. Stephen is ex-Orlando (he ran the Richmond Grove winery), and branched out on his own a few years back with a singular focus on Barossan Shiraz from different parishes across the Valley. Not just parishes, Stephen also draws from a selection of shit-hot single vineyards, with a special focus on some of Adrian Hoffman’s A++ Barossan plots.

Importantly, while there are thus two quality tiers in the Eisenstone range (SR single region and SV single vineyard), the key differentiator is place. All the grapes are treated the same (40-50% new French oak for 20 months, minimal fining or filtration) for a proper terroir expression.

And they’re plenty different, too.

I’ve been lucky to have tracked these Eisenstone wines now over multiple vintages (the 2021s reviews and more context here), and although the range keeps growing, there is none of the Penfoldian quality dip quality.

As you can imagine, these are powerfully decadent Barossan Shira with big flavours, plenty of oak, and no shortage of impact and warmth. No apologies, no shortcuts. Sometimes, these Shiraz dip too far into a Barossan hedonistic mode for me – I’m not going to smash a bottle over dinner with Mrs Ozwinereview on a rare date night – but I dip my lid at the purple intensity and character…

For 2022, it’s much of the same – polished, quality, bold Barossan reds. This vintage is super impressive too, perhaps even more than the more concentrated (but occasionally less lively) 2021 wines.

I’ve had a look at this lineup of the 2022 Eisenstone releases twice now – once at a trade lunch, and now in a bottle and my favourite wines haven’t changed too much either. That’s because there isn’t really much difference in the quality here; it’s more about my interpretation of what the best of the Barossa tastes like.

In other words, there’s a bit of subjectivity here, and you’ll probably taste these wines and come up with an entirely different hierarchy to me.

Isn’t wine amazing?

Let’s talk turkey – as a guide, all the SR parish-level wines sell for $85, with the SV single vineyard wines at $115 (which is cheap when you compare it to the Powell wines in particular). All are available at the Eisenstone website here on that point. Alcohol levels are 14-14.5% across the range, FWIW too.

Eisenstone SV902 Hoffmann DV Vineyard Ebenezer Shiraz 2022

Sourced from the 100+-year-old Dallwitz Block on Adrian Hoffman’s Dimchurch Vineyard at Ebenezer, that incredible fruit source shines through here – there are plummy dark fruit expanses, some blue fruit, chocolate toasted honeycomb oak, and these black and blue fruit flavour X-factor to it that feels a level above. I see the oak as quite chocolatey, and yet it all sort of makes sense in a luscious, expansive, coffeed way. It’s hard to put a finger on why this has the edge, but it just feels deeper, more youthful, more of everything than the rest of what is a top range of wines. 18.7/20, 95/100.

Eisenstone SR807 Koonunga Shiraz 2022

Probably my favourite wine in the SR range, and I would probably take it over the SV release for now. That’s not really surprising, as both this and the wine below are from the Becker Vineyard (which, up until recently, was in the Becker family’s hands and now is under Adrian Hoffmann’s control). Another full tit, bold, oaky Barossa Shiraz, but this wine feels extra grainy textured and muscular with this American oak-like coffee ground grainy fullness and less plum and more coffee notes. Savoury, powerful, a bit warm, super quality – it feels like grandiose old school Barossan style, with more moccha and less purple fruit. A real Barossan archetype. 18.5/20, 94/100.

Eisenstone SV907 Becker Vineyard Koonunga Shiraz 2022

From the Mt Charles Block on the Becker Vineyard. I can see the same chocolate and mocha as the SR wine, but there’s a bit more of a containment compared to the upfront indulgence above. Notably, this is a plummy, red-fruited wine as well, and not the same purple, licoricey, limitless lusciousness and western Barossan vibe as the Marananga. It makes this feel more obvious and even rather Penfoldian, which is very unsurprising given we’re in prime Grange country (Koonunga). 18.5/20, 94/100+.

Eisenstone SV906 Richardson Vineyard Moppa Shiraz 2022

The Richardson Vineyard sits on the border between Greenock and Moppa, where the soils change from deep loams into more stonier, quartz and ironstone. This wine from the stony dirt of the Top Block. Red dust, inky and licorice, it’s a black-fruited wine with thickness and warmth, as if the fruit intensity has shot p into the inky boysenberry spectrum. Interestingly, even oak takes a backseat, though the alcohol is more noticeable too. The extra degrees of flavour here make this a pretty seductive wine; it is occasionally too fruit-forward. 18.5/20, 94/100.

Eisenstone SV904 McDonald Vineyard Marananga Shiraz 2022

From a vineyard on Roennfeldt Road, with vines planted largely in the 70s and 80s. Again, a different shade here, with violets and a real sense of plushness and volume. Stylistically this feels so flashy and purple, the oak more vanilla than coffee, and the style slick and rather more round and generous. High quality, if a different wine to, say the toasty Konnunga wines. 18.5/20, 94/100.

Eisenstone SR806 Moppa Shiraz 2022

Off the richer loam soils at the bottom of the Richardson Vineyard. Even more luscious too, in a fruit cake and cooked plum mode. It feels just a bit warm and bold, very black-fruited, and has a real blackberry flavour to it. Can’t miss that black fruit. Just a bit warm but lush, a proper black fruited expanse that rolls on and on. 18/20, 93/100.

Eisenstone Ebenezer SR802 Shiraz 2022

Also from Adrian Hoffmann’s vineyard at Ebenezer, but with grapes from the younger Micken block. Very much in the mode of its older brother, all red fruit and chocolate, but the oak play an even more dominant mocha mode. Lots of dark plum fruit, coffee oak and a real glossy chunky profile. Oak tannins, too, which shows the extra honeycomb, toasted choccy oak element (even though the treatment in the winery is no different). Vineyards are fascinating! 18/20, 93/100.

Eisenstone SR804 Marananga Shiraz 2022

Also sourced from parts of the McDonald Vineyard. Glossy, deep purple chocolate fruit, the style here sitting in between medium to full-bodied, and the then oak sits on top. This has power, but it feels like a sum of parts – choc bullets meets purple plushness and then somewhat more of a tightness to. In some lights, it’s more stylish, but in others, less obviously intense. 18/20, 93/100

The outlier

Eisenstone X10 d’Or Shiraz 2021

The X range is reserved for the best Shiraz that Stephen can produce (which is obvs a contested proposition). X10 is basically a best barrels blend, largely from Greenock fruit, but also Ebenezer and Marananga. If anything, this suffered a little after the barrage of 2022 wines – it felt a bit older and a bit less punchy. The lavishness is undoubted = it’s probably the most polished Shiraz in the lineup, but without that vineyard grounding and personality, I couldn’t warm to it as much. Certainly punchy, and this tasted more spirity than the ‘standard for Eisenstone’ 14.5% alcohol suggests. Deep, yes, but I’d take other wines in the range over this $190 big dog. 18/20, 93/100.