A muscular wine of great depth and power; the secret here is the delicacy of the oak handling for the fruit; the dark fruits are matched by reds ones and the core is intense and chewy very long and surprisingly supple. -James Halliday The Australian Wine Companion 2009

The 2006 Shiraz "Reiver" is sourced from a single vineyard in the Greenock region of the Barossa Valley. The average age of the vines is 60 years. Opaque purple in color it has an enthralling perfume of saddle leather truffle violets pepper blueberry toast and blackberry. This leads to a full-bodied wine which manages to retain elegance. Opulent ripe and layered with spicy blue and black fruits the wine has enough underlying structure for extended cellaring. Nicely integrated and long in the finish it can be enjoyed over the next 12-15 years. Mitolo which began operations in 1999 is a partnership of the Mitolo family and winemaker Ben Glaetzer. The focus is on McLaren Vale fruit from Willunga the most southern part of the district.

The Mitolo wines are at the big end of town though they're usually counter-balanced by a certain elegance - which I always put down to exquisite winemaking craft. The Reiver was my favourite of the range last year. It has a lot of qualities that I like. It's perfumed - violets blackcurrrant musk toast - and soft through the mouth the dark-fruited flavours elegant and ripe and delicious. It has finesse - it's flavoursome but not bulky. And you have to admire the class of it - it's velvety but it's fruit velvet rather than the more customary oak velvet. For all that I reckon it could have done with just a touch - a touch - more grunt. -Campbell Mattinson