A blend of 98% Shiraz and 2% Viognier made just prior to bottling, the 2016 RunRig is a complete masterpiece. It kicks off with elegant notes of pencil shavings accenting blueberries and blackberries on the nose, then shows incredible, palate-staining intensity of fruit in the mouth. It's full-bodied, plush and velvety without being unstructured and manages to be fruit-forward yet savory on the long-lasting finish, where it picks up hints of mocha and black olives. This should be drinkable with pleasure throughout its entire two-decade life (it may live longer from cold cellars or in larger formats), but if I were lucky enough to have a bottle or two, I'd try the first one about 10 years out. Scheduled for June 2019 release. - JC

Old-vine magic. Some even come from 1858. The decadence and dusty, antique aromas and flavors are very impressive, yet it’s not overdone. Licorice, dark berries, smoke and graphite. A blend of 98% shiraz and 2% viognier. Better in 2021.

Saturated violet. A deeply perfumed bouquet displays ripe black and blue fruits, exotic spices, potpourri and incense that are enlivened by a smoky mineral topnote. Offers alluringly sweet, penetrating cherry, blueberry, violet floral pastille and spicecake flavors show impressive focus and vivacity for their brawn. The floral and spice notes come back emphatically on the wonderfully long finish, which features smoothly interwoven tannins and a reverberating mineral note. -- Josh Raynolds

Restrained and elegant, opening up with ripe black and red fruit flavors. Touches of black licorice and black walnut liqueur plump up the sense of concentration. The tannins are dense but polished, never getting in the way of the harmony. Elements of clove and tobacco emerge on the finish. Shiraz and Viognier. Drink now through 2039. 161 cases imported. — MW

This is old-vine dry-grown shiraz blended with two percent viognier, aged for 30 months in French oak barriques, half of them new. As dark and inky as this wine’s concentration may be, it feels cool, zesty and elegant, with fresh black-currant flavors and a bristle of grape-skin tannins against the chocolate richness of the oak tannins. It’s smoky and spicy and hard to see into right now, built for years of development in the bottle.

Torbreck is known for its rich, powerful and unmistakably Barossa reds and the 2016 vintage doesn't disappoint. While addition of a little Viognier is more evident on Torbreck's Descendant wine than on here, the Shiraz offers a deep well of ripe plums and cherries, licorice, peppery spice and meaty earthy green-herbal nuances, along with plenty of toasty oak influence. The palate is plush, dense and oaky, gripped tightly by savory granular tannins. This needs time and plenty of it. Drink 2022–2039. CHRISTINA PICKARD