Torbreck Vintners, The Forebear, 2020

"In 2019, the inaugural vintage of this already legendary wine suffered some fruit loss due to frost and drought. In 2020, there was an abundance of moisture, but this time, the wind at flowering reduced crop weights significantly. In point of fact, they were 65% down! Nothing is easy in the pursuit of perfection, but this wine appears to know where it’s going despite the myriad challenges. Of course, the vineyard is all-important here, and this micro-production gets kid-glove treatment. It matters not that tiny quantities are made because this is a wine that will only ever appeal to those obsessives who cannot live without tasting the magnificent flavour found here. One such person had the confidence to walk over to our table during our tasting, announcing himself as a serious collector. And he was. Imagine the chances. Ian gave him a taste of this wine, making him the only punter on earth to see a sneak preview. Take it from me: this chap had his mind well and truly blown. I imagine he is still grinning a month or so later! This wine is layered and expert; it requires a safecracker (David Niven, not one of these modern types) to twirl the tumblers and expose the skeletons because this asteroid of a wine takes ‘second album syndrome’ and eviscerates it with another perfect performance. This time, it’s a wine that can be appreciated within five years, which is always cause for applause."

"The 2020 The Forebear is sourced from the oldest plantings in the Hillside Vineyard in Lyndoch—12 rows planted in the early 1850s. For this tasting, the wine has been open now for three hours, and yet it needs more in the way of oxygen than what it currently has. The wine remains aromatically closed, with notions of black fruit, exotic spice, charry oak and forest floor. This has peat, old leather, jarrah and black cherries in profusion. The palate is shaped by intense graphite tannins, which feel closely knit and exclusively the property of old vines; they are silty and settle in the mouth—if you need a visual—like watching a pint of Guinness settle in the glass. A monumental wine, it needs space and quiet to be able to absorb the layers of complexity and undulating waves of flavor through the finish. 15.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork and wax."

"Complex aromas of blackberry compote, roasted coffee beans, iodine, graphite, olive tapenade, dark chocolate, blood plums and baking spices. The palate has a deep, luscious mouthfeel with firmly framed tannins that lead into a viscous and textural finish. So much concentration and old-vine character that is built for the ages. Exceptional. Made from vines planted in 1850s on one acre in Lyndoch. Drink or hold."