96 points James Halliday: Deep crimson-purple; spice, tar, liquorice and sombre black fruits on the bouquet lead into an intense, full-bodied palate that catches you by surprise with its (relative) lightness of foot. Savoury tannins are there in abundance, as is French oak, but with sufficient protein on hand, you could enjoy a glass (possibly even two) of this wine. 94 points DMWP: This bold , dark and beautiful shiraz still retains a youthful purple edge. It has density, weight and depth in barrow loads. An amazing array of flavours including vanilla, cacao, the blackest of blackberry, dark chocolate, black olive, licorice, spice, and grainy, cedary tannin are easily identified in a big, big, wine. This will live for a very long time. It's a thumper! 92 points eRobert Parker: From a steep, rocky vineyard, the 2013 Hickinbotham Syrah is still quite stern and tannic. Hints of mint accent black cherry fruit in this full-bodied, concentrated wine that still needs a couple more years to come around.

The Syrah patch was planted in the mid 1940’s and yields a microscopic 250-300 dozen per annum. The Sandown Syrah patch is west facing and features significant ironstone content. The site yields a signature incense like spice throughout the fruit and makes for a highly exotic expression of Blewitt Springs Syrah. Cola, sarsaparilla, incense, blackcurrant, blueberry, black olive, Italian leather, Sandalwood and roasted meat are all on display with recessed power woven throughout this highly perfumed and multi-layered, seamless example.

CLARENDON HILLS Clarendon Onkaparinga Grenache, McLaren Vale

The Old Vine Syrah patch was planted in the 1930s and is on a slope of the property with a westerly aspect. These old gnarly vines are planted in heavily decomposed ironstone and quartz. The style of wine is completely individual and the winemaking team always comment on how light the style is and how exotic the spices are in this vineyard. The spices come across like incense mixed with deeply aromatic and smoky lapsang oolong tea. Exotic characters such as sandalwood, cocoa powder, sarsaparilla and cola elements top the roast meat and flinty, strawberry and cream palette of this wine. The lighter frame on this style is highly attractive and the intoxicating spices combine to create something highly exotic.