Kaesler Icons:
New Vintage Releases
As exclusive agents for Kaesler in the UK, we are delighted to present our inaugural release of their stellar Icons range, including the latest vintage of their flagship wine, the 2022 Old Bastard Shiraz. Amongst the Barossa Valley’s most highly regarded wines, it is complemented by its younger brothers, the 2023 Old Vine Shiraz and the 2023 Alte Reben Shiraz, alongside the single vineyard 2023 Age of Light Cabernet Sauvignon. All available to purchase In Bond.
The Kaesler Story
The Kaesler family were pioneers who settled in the Barossa Valley in the 1840s and planted their first vines in 1893. To this day, Kaesler wines are made from these ancient, dry grown vineyards. The Old Bastard Shiraz has consistently been rated ‘Outstanding in Langton’s Classification, which comprises the most sought-after Australian fine wines. Sitting comfortably in The Real Review’s Top 100 Wineries 2024, the Kaesler wines continue to garner high praise with each vintage. Indeed, the 2020 Old Vine Shiraz was awarded Gold – ‘Top 10 Best’ at the globally renowned Syrah du Monde competition.
Head winemaker Tim Dolan joined the Kaesler team in 2022. Third-generation Barossa winemaker; son of Nigel and grandson of Bryan Dolan, arguably two of the most influential Australian winemakers of their respective eras, Tim not only has the pedigree, but the passion, experience and qualifications to go with it. Awarded Dux of the famous Len Evans Tutorial in 2018, his palate is unrivalled, and with ten years at the helm of Peter Lehmann Wines under his belt, we are confident that he will take Kaesler to even greater heights.
We couldn’t offer Kaesler without paying our respects to Matthew Jukes, who sadly passed away in August. Matthew was an extraordinary person who, over more than three decades, became one of the UK’s most passionate and tireless champions of Australian wine. Matthew was a dear friend to many of us at Jeroboams, and we will greatly miss his warmth, wit, infectious energy and generosity.
2022 Old Bastard Shiraz, Kaesler
£475 c/s bottles In Bond (6 bottles per case)
"You will see from my score that I think there is nothing that could be added or rearranged to make this 2022 a more perfect Old Bastard. It is extraordinarily long, very clean and stunningly appointed. The fruit profile is blue, red, and black, loaded with discreet florals, incredibly complex and massively seductive. And the oak is simply incredible as it is super-fine-grained, like phenomenal marquetry which augments the class of this wine immeasurably. This is the finest Old Bastard I have ever tasted, and while it is grand in the glass, it is also startlingly elegant. At the end of my scribbled tasting note, I wrote a word I have never used for a Barossa Shiraz before: Musigny. Yes, this wine, despite the fact it comes from the other side of the world and is made from a wholly different grape variety, has Musigny-like qualities. As I edit this note a couple of weeks after tasting the wine, I can still remember every detail of its flavour."
20 Points, Matthew Jukes
"This is a superb release. Simply superb. It’s a bold, powerful, black-fruited wine but it’s laced with graphite and rust-like notes and it runs on forever through the finish. The web of tannin running through the back half of the wine is elite in itself; it’s the perfect anchor to the shipload of fruit flavour. Peppercorn, saltbush, cedarwood, earth and smoked olive notes play minor roles; everything else is major. This is an epic Barossa shiraz."
98 points, Campbell Mattinson
"This is sourced from vines that were planted in 1893. With those older vines, producing wine of real concentration and flavor intensity. Color is quite brilliant with a deeper, darker middle wrapped around with a deeper crimson, purply carrot hue. Has an exotic, almost ethereally engaging aroma of plums and blue fruit notes with a subtle, damp, earthy character just lurking in the background. This is a wine of tremendous intensity and richness, and yet it presents with a high degree of elegance and refinement. And at the moment, it is showing so much youthfulness and vibrancy. Fine chalky tannins integrated with the eighteen months in French oak and the fruit just extends almost effortlessly through to a focused long finish. Outstanding wine."
97 Points, Ray Jordan, Winepilot.com
2023 Old Vine Shiraz, Kaesler
£150 c/s bottles In Bond (6 bottles per case)
"This plot of Old Vines sits alongside Old Bastard, and it is inextricably linked to its cantankerous friend! There is no doubt that this is the most aromatic and expressive Old Vine I have tasted. And it is fractionally smoother and less powerfully extracted than previous vintages. The soils are easier here, and they make a slightly more open and red-fruited wine; coupled with large-format barrels, the results are enchanting. This is a red cherry-soaked style, and while it is rich and indulgent, it is also more forward and silkier than this label has ever been at three years of age. It could not be more different to The Bogan with its crimson fruit palette and stunningly refreshing, Chianti-like acidity."
18 Points, Matthew Jukes
"I like the '23 vintage from the Barossa. There's a concentration and depth to the fruit without any overbearing heaviness to the wine's form. Red plum and dark berry fruits with fruitcake spice, dark chocolate, pan juices, purple flowers, gentle oak and earth. There's a savoury palate shape here; sleek and showing just the right amount of sinewy and verve at it sails forward."
95 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
"The team source their fruit for this wine from three older estate vineyards situated around the winery. Maturation is for a period of sixteen months in a mix of new and older French oak puncheons. Under cork. Blood red with a crimson rim, the nose exhibits aromas of chocolate, smoked meats, black cherries, mulberries, coffee beans, black fruits and licorice. The wine is densely textured, well focused and seamless, with very good length through to satiny tannins. There is oak evident, but it is well integrated. An absolutely delicious style for enjoying over the next fifteen to twenty years."
95 Points, Ken Gargett, Winepilot.com
2023 Alte Reben Shiraz, Kaesler
£265 c/s bottles In Bond (6 bottles per case)
"Coming from a wild Marananga plot, this wine shows a much more attacking, darker fruit than the previous Shiraz wines, and it loads more bitterness and tannin onto the finish, too. The Alte Reben site is powerful and mineral-soaked, and it brings a tannin profile that pinches the palate, adding leather, wild herbs and rocky notes to the sleek, black fruit. While the nose is open and initially welcoming, the power comes in on the mid-palate and shuts it down. It is the mirror-image of Old Vine, this time adding dark chocolate and strawberry coulis to a more muscular core. It needs five years, but this is clearly a brilliant wine."
18.5+ Points, Matthew Jukes
"Alte Reben is German for 'Old Vine', a resource that Kaesler has an abundance of, and the team are dab hands at guiding that old shiraz to bottle in a most beautiful way that reflects the region and its history. It's a full-bodied wine with a core of plush satsuma plum, blueberry and black cherry fruits over a base of baking spices, pan juices, pastis, dark chocolate, panforte, violets, vanillin oak and earth. The flavours stretch out luxuriously on the palate, framed by fine, powdery tannins and a fine, lacy acidity. While it is undoubtedly delicious now, there is plenty of cellaring upside."
95 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
"In case you’re wondering, Alter Reben is the German for old vine, and this is a single vineyard Shiraz from Kaesler’s Marananga vineyard, which was planted way back in 1899. It’s a thoroughly beautiful wine. The colour is deep red with some purple hues. And the aroma is an exotic combination of spices, dark plum, and a little liqueur chocolate with a red-fruited lift. The palate is certainly not brutish and has the black fruits and slightly minerally graphite-like character threading throughout. It’s a powerful wine and the use of new and seasoned French oak for about eighteen months has been really neatly handled. Drinking so well now as a result of that balance, but it does have superb aging potential."
95 Points, Ray Jordan, Winepilot.com
2023 Age of Light Cabernet Sauvignon, Kaesler
£320 c/s bottles In Bond (6 bottles per case)
"2023 was a very tricky vintage, and the fruit at harvest was amazingly slippery, pulpy, violet-soaked and textural. So how did they do it? Spring 2022 was the wettest on record, so they shoot-thinned hard and early to keep the canopy open, and this decisive move reduced the crop load significantly to what turned out to be a normal level. And this very early decision allowed the fruit to ripen on time, while others hit rain at the end of the season, resulting in larger crop loads with sloppy wines! Kaesler’s hard work has resulted in a superbly polished and forward wine with more mulberry and plum notes than previous vintages, and it is incredibly charming. It had flavour on the vine at 12.5% potential, and they picked at 13%. The clones at Kaesler need a long season, and this is perfectly suited to Barossa. They also do not use any herbicides, and it has natural acidity. This results in a stunningly beautiful, ‘naked’ Cabernet, and it will be certain to amaze every single person who is lucky enough to taste it. "
18.5 Points, Matthew Jukes
"Deep blackberry and black cherry fruits on display with layers of baking spices, meadow herbs, morello cherry, turned earth, cedar, violets and roasting meats. Plenty of dark and black fruit depth with light pastille tones and an earthen facet. Tannins cascade thick and fine through the powerful fruit, finishing with a wash of cassis and spice. Good cellaring potential here."
95 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
"The depth of fruit flavour here is significant. It’s a soft, plush, complex wine but its inherent depth is the centre of attention. It tastes of black and green olives, blackcurrant, saltbush and violets, with black licorice and smoked earth notes trailing through the aftertaste. All these flavours hit up front and continue on throughout, ultimately finishing long. There’s a grainy/earthen/tobacco-like aspect to the finish, which helps to firm it up and, in the process, emphasise its quality credentials."
94 points, Campbell Mattinson
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