2022 Keith Tulloch The Kester Shiraz, Hunter Valley

The Kester is produced from the finest selection of shiraz from the season. It showcases the quality of the fruit without obtrusion from dominant winemaking influence and has fabulous intensity and a graceful flow. You'll find pomegranates, plums, raspberries and red liquorice with dainty flecks of herbs and spice. Gentle extraction methods are employed during fermentation, and Francois Frères foudres are used for the maturation, so even on release, you will find tannins beautifully fine and integrated. The wine is perfectly medium-weight, juicy and succulent, with vitality, personality, concentration and harmony.

96 points Toni Paterson MW winecompanion.com.au

Keith Tulloch The Kester Shiraz is the flagship wine of this respected Hunter Valley estate—a finely woven, powerful yet elegant expression of old-vine Shiraz that pays tribute to both region and heritage. Named in honour of Keith’s grandfather, Hector “Kester” Tulloch, this wine is a celebration of family legacy and the timeless style of Hunter Shiraz done right: understated power, layered complexity, and incredible ageability.

The fruit for The Kester comes from the Tulloch family’s top vineyards, including low-yielding, dry-grown vines planted in the 1960s on the red volcanic soils of Pokolbin. These sites bring depth and structure to the fruit while retaining the medium-bodied frame and savoury finesse that define the region’s best Shiraz.

Winemaker Keith Tulloch treats this cuvée with great care. Hand-harvested fruit is wild fermented in open fermenters, followed by gentle basket pressing and extended maturation in tight-grain French oak barriques—typically around 30 to 40 percent new. The wine is neither fined nor filtered, allowing for maximum expression of vineyard and vintage.

In the glass, The Kester is aromatic and precise, offering dark plum, black cherry, graphite, anise, and cracked pepper, layered with earthy undertones and a whisper of oak spice. The palate is beautifully structured, medium-bodied with silky tannins, a savoury core, and a mineral line that carries through to an exceptionally long, graceful finish.

This is a Hunter Valley Shiraz of pedigree and poise—built to cellar for decades, but stunning now with decanting. Ideal with slow-cooked lamb shoulder, rare roast beef, or truffle risotto.