2024 Mount Pleasant Maurice O'Shea Shiraz, Hunter Valley

A blend of Mount Pleasant’s most superb barrels from its finest vineyards. This vintage draws on Old Hill (1880), Old Paddock (1921) and Rosehill (1946). The concentration is phenomenal, and, although the fruit is dark, plush and plentiful, there is beautiful acidity to balance. Red licorice, dried wildflowers, dark plum and vanilla, with a halo of freshly turned earth. If drinking young, time in a decanter allows the savoury, earthy tones to equilibrate with the rich, supple fruit and for the wine to reveal its true magnificent soul. Drink 2055.

98+ points Toni Paterson MW for Halliday Wine Companion, June 2026

First created in 1987 as a tribute to the great man himself.  This is the top barrel selection of Old Hill, Old Paddock and Rosehill and only made in exceptional vintages. Adrian Sparks remarks ‘Crafting the O’Shea each season is arguably our longest yet most rewarding task.’ Here you smell, taste and live in real time the pioneering spirit of craftsmen that look far into the future, piecing together the history, season and results of total dedication. It’s bottled for your drinking pleasure now but also for you 10, 30, 50 years on. Who will you be then? This is what makes fine wine so very special. It grows with you. A vintage that had everyone working hard, with warm weather and fast paced, my expectations were in check and yet they are supremely surpassed. There is magic here with Christmas cherries, Illawarra plum and quongdong fruit. Gosh, it’s a potpourri of florals too. Some caraway spice and a brazil nut cream that anchors the mid palate. The inspiration from each site is visible and measured with gravelly but profoundly fine tannins and sweeping, uplifting tannins. Wow, a total showstopper and one you cannot miss. Drink to 2076.

98+ points Shanteh Wale for Wine Pilot, June 2026

Medium-deep red tinged with purple; the relatively quiet bouquet smacks of ironstone and tar, a smoky bituminous character that is quite singular. The palate, full-bodied and firm, is likewise driven by those terrestrial flavours of rock and earth and coal-dust. Savoury, drying aftertaste and terrific length. Serious shiraz indeed. Drink to 2042.

96 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review

More about this wine

This wine was created in 1987 as a tribute to the legendary Maurice O’Shea. It is a best-of-the-vintage barrel selection of grapes sourced from Old Hill planted in 1880, Old Paddock planted in 1921 and Rosehill planted in 1946.

The 2024 was warm and sunny, with dry conditions reducing yields but providing very good overall quality.

About Mount Pleasant

The legendary Mount Pleasant estate was founded by one of the true visionaries of Australian wine, Maurice O’Shea. The vineyards include plantings of ancestral vines of 1880, as well as Australia’s oldest mother vine Pinot Noir planted in 1921. It is home to some of the first fine wines of Australia, and just five winemakers have left their mark over its 100-year history, maintaining its status as a benchmark of Hunter classics.