2023 Kaesler Old Vine Shiraz, Barossa Valley

I like the '23 vintage from the Barossa. There's a concentration and depth to the fruit without any overbearing heaviness to the wine's form. Red plum and dark berry fruits with fruitcake spice, dark chocolate, pan juices, purple flowers, gentle oak and earth. There's a savoury palate shape here; sleek and showing just the right amount of sinewy and verve at it sails forward. Drink 2025–2040.

95 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, October 2025

It’s sourced from vines that were planted back in the 1960s and taken from cuttings from the Old Bastard vineyard of 1893. It comes off three estate blocks and was traditionally handled before maturation for sixteen months before release. On the nose, there are bright red fruits with a distinctly raspberry juby character and a smidgen of vanilla pod swirling throughout. The palate has a soft suppleness about it, with deep flavorsome red fruits and a little spicy lift. Integrated, balanced, and poised through to the finish. Excellent wine. Drink 2026–2041.

94 points Ray Jordan for Wine Pilot, April 2026

Deep, bright purple-red colour with a rich vanillan, chocolaty nose, suggesting copious oak treatment. The wine is full-bodied and rich, fleshy, and borderline opulent, with terrific depth of sweet ripe fruit and charry oak, which is supplying some of the tannins that firm up the finish. Very good but needs time to mellow out that rather dominant oak. Drink 2028–2043.

94 points Huone Hooke for The Real Review, January 2026

The 2023 Shiraz Old Vine shows delicious purity of refined dark cherry and mulberry aromas with a fine line of spice and well-integrated oak. There is good density of flavor to follow in a medium-bodied frame. Its al dente tannins are beautifully pitched to deliver a long, silky finish. This is a great result for the vintage. Drink 2026–2038.

93 points Angus Hughson for Vinous, August 2025

The Kaesler Old Vine Shiraz draws on three vineyard parcels with vines planted between 1899 and the 1960s. Kaesler's home vineyards around Nuriootpa are on sandy clay loam and produces generous, fruit-forward character, while the Marananga vineyard on the western side of the Barossa is on a rocky, shaly slope where low yielding concentrated fruit ripens earlier. The blend of both is classic Kaesler: bold, structured and layered, with finesse built into the power.

The 2023 Barossa vintage was among the more challenging ones in recent years. One of the wettest springs on record delayed flowering, and harvest ran four weeks later than usual with Shiraz not picked until mid-March. On the positive note, the slower ripening produced fruit of genuine complexity, and the wines of this vintage carry more freshness and precision than the warmer years on either side. Many wines from this vintage are likely to be great candidates for extended cellaring.

Deep ruby, the nose shows dark cherry, blackberry, cocoa and white pepper with a savoury spice undercurrent. The palate is full-bodied and structured with fine chalky tannins, good acidity and a long, well-balanced finish.

A year or two in teh bottel, and you can really start enjoying this wine with richer food like Korean braised short ribs, slow-roasted beef, a lamb rack or aged hard cheese.