2024 Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz, Hunter Valley

A careful selection of the best parcels of shiraz from the Graveyard vineyard (predominantly Pa’s, Middle, End and 7 Acre). This is a majestically fragrant wine, with heady rose petals, pomegranate and faint Bedouin spice, anchored by a red-raspberry/cherry core. A subtle tamarind arc brings a quiet tension to the fruit. The palate is refined and exquisite, yet bright and lithe, with remarkable presence and momentum. Its brilliance lies in its precision and the sheer depth of fruit held within the medium-weight frame. So concentrated yet so fine, with a near-imperceptible tannin structure and fine acid line that will allow it to age gracefully over decades. Drink to 2054.

99 points Toni Paterson MW for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2026

The 2024 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is silky and fine, both bloody and floral. The wine is lighter than some of its predecessors, both in color and in palate weight. The length, however, is delicately lingering and long, allowing ample opportunity for assessment and re-assessment. It has concentration without heft, and despite being labelled as Shiraz, the best of the Hunter offer something unique in Australian wine, and indeed globally: finesse, florality, weightlessness and intensity. This is in that vein. Drink to 2039.

96+ points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, June 2026

Medium-full ruby to garnet colour, not especially deep; reserved aromas of clovey spices, pomegranate and kid leather with some red berry fruits peeping through. This is medium-full bodied and chockablock with fruit and tannin, not especially shapely but generous and structured to age. Lovely array of seed spices and there is a real touch of elegance to it. Drink to 2041.

96 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, May 2026

This has long been the Hunter Valley’s most iconic red and this release continues with the standard of excellence that has been established over many vintages. The wine receives a three-day cold soak before a fermentation for the best part of a week, and then sees time for maturation in French oak, 15% which is new. It is from vines that are now fifty-six years of age. The immediate impression that this vintage provides is that it will be one of the longest lived of the series. Definitely a Graveyard for the long haul. A vibrant blood red with a pale crimson rim, this is concentrated and focused with the nose offering aromas of truffles, dried herbs, plum pudding, charcuterie, animal hides, black fruits, wild raspberries and coffee grinds. It is already exhibiting early signs of the complexity which will surely build over time. The wine is finely balanced, and it maintains its intensity for the full length. A creamy texture, the wine lifts on the palate. There is great length here, through to the silkiest of tannins.  Still youthful, the more time one can give it in glass, and bottle, the better. It will easily provide pleasure for the next twenty-five to thirty years and leaving it in the cellar for the next five to eight years before opening will not be the worst idea anyone’s ever had.  A superb Graveyard. Drink to 2056.

96 points Ken Gargett for Wine Pilot, May 2026