In the heyday of Australian wine here in the U.S., PRIMA Vini was a major player, with a selection of Aussie wines that was unparalleled.  Names like Elderton, Jim Barry, Glaetzer, Leeuwin Estate, Henschke, Penfolds, Grosset, Torbreck and many, many more graced our shelves and our personal cellars during those heady days.  Alas, for a variety of reasons, Australia’s heyday in the United States ended with a loud kerthud, But that doesn’t mean they stopped making great wines!  One constant throughout those years, for sheer quality and incredible value, were the wines of Henry’s Drive, a family-owned estate located in the Padthaway District, southeast of Adelaide, South Australia.  A brief look through our product history showed at least five vintages of HD Shiraz, all of which were wildly popular.  The winery, though, upon the death of its founder Mark Longbottom and the succession of his wife Kim and their daughter Margo, in order to refine the style of the family’s wines, made the decision to venture beyond its Padthaway roots into the cooler  McLaren Vale region further south.  While the home estate in Padthaway is still the source of their flagship Magnus Shiraz, it is older vines McLaren Vale that now provide the raw material for the wonderfully balanced but unabashedly Aussie Henry’s Drive Vintage Longbottom Shiraz, a recent taste of which made us very nostalgic for those wonderful days of yore.  This is everything that we’ve always loved in a good ol’ fashioned McLaren Vale Shiraz!  It is as dark, rich and savory as ever, a beautiful expression of the prevailing Mediterranean climate, ancient soils and unique topography of McLaren Vale.  It is packed with flavors of ripe, black fruit with a touch of smoky spice, black plum, chocolate-espresso and even a bit of telltale eucalyptus mintiness.  Yummy!  The 2019 Henry’s Drive Shiraz is finished with a screw-top closure so we recommend you decant the wine before serving or simply open it ahead of time, pour a glass and let the wine open up.  Your patience will be rewarded with a luscious and satisfying mouthful of delicious wine. 

Wine Enthusiast: This is a plush, chocolaty wine all wrapped up in a silky cloak of ripe berries, licorice, spice and graphite. It's rich and mouthfilling but tightened up by lifted acidity and chiseled, chalky tannins. Drink until 2030. 91 points