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

Deep red with a good purple tint and a bouquet that is reticent at first and builds meaty/charcuterie and savoury underbrush aromas with exposure to air. The palate is full bodied and fleshy, rich and dense with plenty of extract and satisfying length, the tannins and flavour lingering long and harmoniously on the follow-through. A dramatic wine and very impressive. A Hunter shiraz of gravitas, with a great cellaring future. An outstanding O'Shea. 14 Jun 2023 Drink 2025–2048

98 points Huon Hooke The Real Review

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 James Suckling Top 100 Australian Wines of 2023

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 MW Wine Companion  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 The Wine Front Jun 23 Drink 2025-2044+

Silky smooth in the mouth, squeaky a bit, a mix of pretty stuff, some dark in nature, fresh earth after rain, and wet forest breeze, autumnal leaves. But also fresh red rose petals, a hint of briar rose jam sweetness, and just a whiff of grilled hazelnuts in skins, or Amaretti biscuits as a top note. It’s mostly about tense and flavourful fruit skins, Damson plum-like, with plenty of fine leathery tannins. Black pepper spice to sign things off.

97 points Kasia Sobiesiak The Wine Front

The 2021 Maurice O'Shea Shiraz feels supple and silky in the mouth. The tannins are an incredible asset to the fruit—they bolster and support it, give it shape and rise in the mouth yet do not obstruct its flow and feel. This is seamless and lithe, populated by red fruits and a plethora of exotic spice. It feels eminently balanced in the mouth: star anise and fennel seeds are fresh alongside tobacco leaf and saltbush. The fruit speaks to pomegranate and cherries (of every iteration—from kirsch to red and black) equally as it does to pink and Sichuan peppercorns. This is a wine of great appeal and persuasion, and it feels ageless somehow. I have used "feels" several times in this note and regret none of them: the wine is sensorial and visceral and sensational. 13.5% alcohol(!), sealed under screw cap(!).

96+ points Erin Larkin Robert Parker

From one of Australia’s most historic vineyards, Mount Pleasant Icon Series Maurice O’Shea Shiraz is a tribute to the man who shaped the Hunter Valley’s fine wine identity. Maurice O’Shea founded Mount Pleasant in the 1920s and is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most visionary winemakers, crafting wines of elegance and longevity at a time when power dominated. Today the estate continues that legacy, producing Shiraz that reflects site, season and a distinctly Hunter Valley sense of restraint.

A deep yet translucent ruby garnet sits in the glass, hinting at both concentration and finesse. Aromas unfold with red plum, dark cherry and blackberry layered with spice, dried herbs, leather and a subtle earthy note that speaks of the Hunter’s sandy soils. There is a savoury, almost ferrous edge that adds intrigue.

The palate is medium bodied and beautifully structured, delivering vibrant red and dark fruit framed by fine, sinewy tannins and fresh acidity. Notes of liquorice, spice, tobacco and gentle earthy nuance build through the mid palate, leading to a long, savoury finish that feels both elegant and quietly powerful. This is a classic Hunter Shiraz built for the long haul, evolving over fifteen to twenty years into layers of leather, game and complex tertiary character.

Slow roasted lamb with rosemary, braised duck with herbs, or a rich mushroom and lentil dish shared as the evening deepens. A late night shift into something timeless, Bach’s Cello Suites or even a touch of Coltrane alongside it, the wine carrying that same sense of history, structure and quiet brilliance.