Like the vineyards halfway up the Hermitage hill in the south Rhone, this one has round river stones, but it’s halfway up the piedmont of the Willunga escarpment near McLaren Vale. It smells just plain friggin gorgeous. It’s rude and sassy with whole messes of fresh, vibrant, black and blue fruits; really neat fired oak, and an acrid, nose-itching edge that can only come from the country in which it grew, and the plethora of yeasts and microbial troops that live there. It has a British Racing Green aroma: crows in the pines; a worn-out E-type decaying in the tractor shed, wondering whether it’ll go to the chooks or a restorateur. It’s slender and tight at first sip, with a sharp carbon base. But given the chance to properly slither in and unwind, it teases like that serpent that suckered Eve. And as my aboriginal friends say, bugger the apple -- they woulda eaten the snake every time. The finish is all the Bible black things mentioned above and more, with wicked juice and deadly nightshade tannins and really stony, slithery acidity. Twenty years, please. Or grainy pecorino. With a snake. Philip White:$25; 14.5% alcohol; screw cap; 93+++ points
A powerful, full-bodied wine which abounds with black fruits, licorice and bitter chocolate; while initially confronting, the appeal grows on retasting. Screwcap.14.5% alc. Rating 94 - Drink 2021 - Date Tasted Dec 08 James Halliday - winecompanion.com.au - May 2009:
Winefront Double Take -August 2008
CAMPBELL MATTINSON: The Marius name has fast become synonymous with reliable quality. The grapes for this wine are hand-picked (and not all at once: numerous passes are made in an attempt to pick all grapes at their optimum), basket pressed, fermented and then matured in French and American oak hogsheads. The resultant wine is soft, medium-bodied, deliciously ripe and attractive, with even-tempered blackberry and raspberry flavours. There's very little sign of oak flavour here and a silken set of tannins. It should start drinking at its best in about two years time. Drink: 2010-2014. 91 points.
GARY WALSH: There's no Symphony this year as all the fruit went into Simpatico, and it goes without saying (almost) that I agree with Mattinson, that yes, Marius is a producer that's fast become synonymous with quality, but I'd add that they are also one that shows a bit of extra flair too. The wines offer that little something extra, although I'm not quite sure exactly what it is. This is a touch ferrous and has something hard to describe - a sort of stone and earth character over the raspberry and blackberry fruit - a little bit of Priorat meets the Vales - and there's a chunk of chocolate and new leather in there too. Subtle oak allows the fruit to express itself clearly. In the mouth medium to full bodied and loaded with ripe berry fruit, chocolate and again some of those ferrous stone and earth qualities. Lovely tannins, soft and fine grained, and they contribute to the nutty toothsome texture and pop up again on the finish to do a little dusting. There's a touch of warmth too, but it's not disruptive, and the longer the wine is open the better it looks. Decant it for an hour if drinking now or better still give it a couple more years to show itself to best advantage. An authentic wine that offers plenty more interest than many of its peers. ABV: 14.5% Drink: 2010-2016. 92+ points.
The name says it all - this is about easy drinking and it shows, well, simpatico between the region and the variety. Ripe dark berries and plum fruits, gently supportive tannins that don't interrupt the flow of flavour or compromise the soft mouth-feel. 91 points The 2009 Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide - Nick Stock
