95 Points "Really youthful, purple and deeply-coloured in the glass. The aromas are all about dark fruits and then there’s dried herbs, sage, black olive, licorice and a cool graphite edge. Flavours are rich, layered and mouthfilling. Plenty of mulberry, dark cherry, anise and spice, there’s a lushness to the fruit but there’s ample savoury, structured and complexing tannin that gives the wine real definition, length and seriousness. A really delicious wine 01 MAY 2021" Aaron Brasher The Real Review
"A grand man in stature and personality with a commanding presence and cheeky humour he was passionate, unstoppable, generous to the core, and according to many ahead of his time. It seems appropriate that our Mclaren Vale Shiraz shares many rich characteristics of this great man whose memory remains a legend among us Smidge Wines are a tribute to the small things in life that make it all worthwhile" - Matt Wenk
The Gutsy from Smidge Wines is from the cooler 2017 vintage. There was plenty of hang time for the fruit in this Kuitpo vineyard which is a westerly facing block full of red/brown clay loam soils mottled with quartz. Matt picked the fruit on a Monday as although the forecast predicted 5mm of rain on a Tuesday, he had a different feeling. The weather brought 42mm of rain and showers for the rest of the week. Handpicked, destemmed and on skins for 28 days, The Gutsy has had a wild yeast ferment, drained and pressed with the free run and pressings being combined. It then spent 20 months in Fine-Grained French puncheon and barrique, approximately 40% new (all 500L puncheons). Unfiltered and bottled in December 2018. And it’s vegan-friendly. Drink now and/or buy a couple of extra bottles to cellar until 2030.
"Deep red clay/loam mottled with small pieces of quartz and ironstone. The wine expands on the back-palate and finish with ripe, persistent tannins. The shape of the wine in the mouth is wider than its Barossa siblings, but not as piercing. Dark chocolate makes a mark, but not to extremes."
- James Halliday Wine Companion
"From a block of red-brown clay loam with small pieces of ironstone and quartz. It is a wine of extreme length, rich with black and blue fruits, yet it achieves this without any sign of effort. Finesse on a high level."
- James Halliday Wine Companion
Magic Dirt is one of Australia’s most acclaimed wines and the pinnacle of the Smidge Wines range. Its name reflects one of the great secrets of great winemaking – the quality that the terroir brings to the wine. Each vintage is inspired by the sub-regional terroir of South Australia’s wine regions with all vineyards selected trellised with a single cordon, single catch wire, and planted with the clone 1654. Magic Dirt Menglers Hill Eden Valley Shiraz is the perfect gift for the wine connoisseur or person who appreciates the finer things.
"From Smidge's estate vineyard, the soil deep red clay/loam with small fragments of quartz and ironstone. Standard vinification, the result, like its McLaren Vale sibling, a wine that explores every corner of the mouth, ripe, slightly fluffy tannins the standard bearers."
- James Halliday Wine Companion
