First thing to notice is the bottle – 500ml but a narrow, towering cylinder that is difficult to store; nice label, nice name. Its 100% grenache from McLaren Vale in South Australia. Thankfully its cork has performed its function. It certainly needed decanting, as there was a pile of  sediment.

Its not the deepest of colours; a dark ruby seems to fit; its bouquet is full of liquorice, rose petal and eucalypt. There is sweet but balanced spirit, and its eerily reminiscent of some old Reynella VPs – minus the extreme blackberry, and of course they were Shiraz based. It’s a slightly malty milk chocolate style with the sweetness and relative lack of tannins holding it back. Cleverly constructed, and an excellent “welcome back” to Australia.

Drink to 2025, score 87 points