2021 Mount Pleasant Icon Series Maurice O'Shea Shiraz, Hunter Valley

A cooler year, producing medium-bodied wines of clarity. The voice of place, audible. In this instance, a blend of the more favorable of the estate's holdings to serve as a magnificent flagship. Yet while the narrative is important, it is this wine's beguiling, floral transparency that serves the real story. The tannins, delicate; the acidity, filigreed. The effect is one of an intricate mandala, shape-shifting across identities on the palate. Extremely complex and mellifluous, all at once. Quite the transcendental wine, reminding me of shiraz meeting pinot noir in a far off idyll. Drinkable now, but best from 2026. Screw cap.

97 points Ned Goodwin MW jamessuckling.com

It is an outstanding wine of distinction, if somewhat chameleonic in nature. On one hand, it is ethereal, fragrant, and composed, but at the same time, it is powerful, audacious and layered. This multiplicity of perspectives makes Maurice O'Shea one of the most captivating wines in the country. Red fruit purity is the essence of the wine. But layered upon this is a touch of floral perfume, a thread of citrus zest, lacy berry fruit and a hint of spiced Persian lamb. The length is phenomenal, and every sip proves beyond doubt why it is worthy of greatness, even in a challenging year. A compelling, charismatic wine of incredible beauty. Drink now with a double decant or tuck into the cellar for decades.

98 Points, Toni Paterson, winecompanion.com.au, Jun 2024

The tannin structure, the meatiness, the mineral. This wine gives an insight into what makes this vineyard so special in a way that I don’t know that I’ve encountered before, in a young wine. It’s like the bookcase has spun around and oh, I get it, there it is, that’s why everyone keeps looking at these books.

It has length and complexity and all those things but this wine has more than that. It’s like it’s saying, Let me show you something. I took one sip and thought, Don’t go. I took another and thought it again. This isn’t just a wine, it’s an insight. I remember, in a previous lifetime, someone texting me a line from the Wine Hunter book, which of course is set around the vineyard that this wine is grown on. At the end of the book O’Shea turns to the vineyard that has been his life’s work and thinks, What a mate for a man.

That’s what someone texted me, apropos of nothing, without identifying themselves or the book. I opened my phone and there were the words: WHAT A MATE FOR A MAN!

I’ve always wondered, and wanted, to know what the wines of this mate-of-a-vineyard tasted like when they were young. Today, from the first sip, is the day that I felt as though I stepped in closer to knowing. This is a ‘what a mate for a man’ wine. It’s got something to show you. Don’t go, I thought, again, after taking another sip.

98 points Campbell Mattinson winefront.com.au Jun 23 Drink 2025-2044+