2024 Grosset Gaia, Clare Valley

Very deep, bright purple colour that stains the glass; the aroma is fiercely intense, mulberry, cassis and blueberry to the fore, proudly fruit-driven and bold with primary fruit bursting from the glass. The intensity, concentration and precision are all evident in the mouth as well, with extreme depth and penetration, the energy of the wine obvious at every turn. It's jumping out of its skin, and will age superbly. This wine oozes class. Drink 2029 to 2049.

98 points Huon Hooke for the Real Review, March 2026

All day, I've been waiting to get to this bottle, so I intentionally included it in the final bracket of wines to dangle a very appealing carrot in front. Even after nearly 60 wines today, this still brings a smile to my face. Here, the 2024 Gaia represents the 35th release of this wine, and it comprises a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Cabernet Franc. The nose leads with freshly turned earth, cassis, violets, pressed flowers, sweet pouch tobacco and layers of dried herbs—mainly bay and sage. In the mouth, the wine is impeccable in its balance: the tannins are chewy and pronounced but neatly woven through all aspects of the fruit flavor. Great Cabernet must be leafy—it indicates its variety and provides a sense of delicacy and space within the wine. The Grosset Gaia is almost always leafy, and this is one of its most attractive attributes. While my favorite remains the 2021, this is not far behind. Drink 2026 to 2046.

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

A class act from hello. A wine of depth and yet restraint, freshness and yet dark fruit and judicious oak seasoning, a sense of crushed-rock minerality, savouriness, length and presence. A seriously impressive red wine that doesn't forget its warmer-climate origins while holding true to its medium-weight and vibrant lineage. A superb, succulent, lacy tannin profile to seal the deal. A stellar cabernet(s) of immediate appeal, and yet for the soothsayers, a long life ahead. Drink 2026 to 2040.

96 points Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2026

Jeffrey Grosset established his winery in Auburn in 1981 with a single guiding conviction: that exceptional wine begins with finding precisely the right place. Grosset remains one of Australia's most focused and uncompromising small producers with four Clare Valley vineyards certified organic and biodynamic. These are farmed with a philosophy that has deepened considerably since Jeffrey first engaged with biodynamics as a way of understanding his land rather than simply managing it.

The Gaia Vineyard was established in 1986 at 560 metres — the highest point in the Clare Valley — on two hectares of hard red rock, where the vines are close-planted at 3,000 per hectare and yield just two kilograms each. That the site produces wine of any quality is remarkable; that it produces wine of this quality is a fair measure of what Jeffrey Grosset means by choosing the right place. Jeffrey named the vineyard after scientist James Lovelock's Gaia theory: the idea of the earth as a single living organism dependent on the full complexity of its species.

The 2024 is the 35th release of this wine, from now 40-year-old vines. 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Cabernet Franc, hand harvested, fermented with indigenous yeast, matured for 18 months in French oak barriques, and bottled unfined.

The wine is intensely aromatic and concentrated — mulberry, cassis, dark cherry and bramble at the fore, with violets, pressed flowers, bay, sage and sweet tobacco threaded through. The palate is impeccably balanced: chewy, pronounced tannins woven seamlessly through layers of dark fruit, the whole thing held together by a fine-grained, lacy structure and the distinctive leafy quality that Cabernet at this elevation and this site consistently delivers. Crushed-rock minerality and great length complete the picture. A wine that is accessible now and built for decades.

A wine of this calibre deserves a slow evening with food that can hold its own. Pair with something like roasted rack of lamb with herbs and a proper jus. Or enjoy simply with some aged hard cheese and good bread if the mood calls for something simple. The tannin structure and dark fruit depth handle the richness in either case with ease.

Drink now through 2045. This is a vegan friendly wine.