2023 Sentio Shiraz, Beechworth

Bursting in the kind of energy and vitality that could fuel a small city, this is one juicy, exciting shiraz. Fresh, spicy plum and blackberry fruits with pepper, aniseed, woodsy spices and earth enhanced by a light mineral thread of graphite and gravel. It speaks eloquently of the grape and the soil, the spice and the plushness of fruit and vanillin oak, before finishing in a fine tannin-ed elegance. Bravo! Drink to 2036.

96 points & Special Value Jeni Port for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2024

A fine, mid-weighted shiraz. Fealty to region stamped loud and clear as a zip code of iodine, dried kelp, boysenberry, clove and mace. I initially though that this savory mid-weighter could use a little more tannin. Yet, as I give this air, the structural latticework grows in stature, trajectory and finesse. Very good drinking across the mid-term. Drink or hold.

94 points James Suckling, March 2024

Sentio is the 2013-established negociant project of talented Beechworth-based winemaker Chris Catlow, whose resume name drops Sorrenberg, Kooyong Estate, Portsea Estate, Paringa Estate and Benjamin Leroux.

Known for Chardonnay, his diverse offer is first and foremost about wines as an expression of place, and grapes are sourced from growers across Victoria.

This medium-bodied Shiraz presents with plush, spicy and chalky black fruit in a finely tuned frame of elegant tannins.

Enjoy with beef short ribs cooked in Cantonese master stock or a Moroccan duck pastilla.