2024 Mount Pleasant Mountain A, Hunter Valley

The medium bodied nature of Mountain A comes from the particular block planted in 1965. There are cranberries and lily pilly fruit strangely reminiscent to some of the coiled red fruits found in Sicilian varieties, as is the nature and fragrance of blocks that stand apart from the rest. Here you will marvel at the Rosella flowers with a nod to rosehip too. There is a warm spice of Cayenne pepper and some lingering heat just on the final note, this adds a softness to what is a very crunchy wine. Try pairing this with Njuda spiced mussels or good quality chorizo wedged between turkish bread for a delightful start to your evening. Drink now or cellar for another 6-8 years further.

94 points Shanteh Wale for Wine Pilot, June 2026

Deep-ish purple-red colour; the bouquet is earthy and tarry with broken rock nuances, the palate intense and focused, lean and tense but not rich, fleshy or expansive. After extended airing, intensely spicy too. An elegant, medium-bodied shiraz with an almost nervy tension to it. This suggests it will reward cellaring. Drink to 2041.

94 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, January 2026

Hand-picked fruit, sourced from the '65 plantings at Rosehill, aged in French oak for 11 months (15% new). Mountain A is the ‘medium-bodied’ blend in the Mountain range, though the warm season sees the style tilt towards the fuller side. Red fruit predominates, true to the site, with terracotta tones mingling with ripe, wildly intense candied-cherry notes. It has good fragrance, concentration and generosity, with puckering, cherry-stone-like succulence and warmth on the close. Drink to 2040.

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

More about this wine

The Mountain Series was developed by Maurice O'Shea through the 1930s as a way of differentiating wines by their style rather than by their variety: Mountain A stood for a medium-bodied dry red, while Mountain C was described light- and Mountain D full-bodied in style.

The fruit for the 2024 wine is sourced from the 1965 planted blocks of Shiraz in the Rosehill vineyard. This north facing site on ancient volcanic soils is considered one of the most significant ones in the Hunter.

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.