Youthful crimson; an immaculate bouquet with black fruits and oak seamlessly interwoven, the palate flooded with rich blackberry, plum and licorice fruit held together by good oak and fine-grained tannins. Surely destined to be a classic. 96 points, drink to 2026, Cork, 14.5% alc; James Halliday Wine Companion
Another excellent Barossa vintage and a top Stonewell in the making. Concentrated peppermint, aniseed, blackberry aromas on both nose and palate. Lush flavour and fine but persuasive tannins; fruit to the fore again and oak in the background. Great balance and length; a class act and a delicious wine all round. Best 2011 to 2026+. 96 Points; Huon Hooke; Good Living
It's an Aussie classic. In big, beautiful form. Soft, plum-shot, chocolatey fruit flavour with both earthen notes and coffeed oak character. It's a big wine, but everything is neatly in place. The extension of flavour through the finish is outstanding and the tannin structure significant, but impeccably well formed. Long life ahead. Rating: 95 Points; Drink: 2013-2023; Price: $85; Alcohol: 14.5%; Seal: Screwcap; Campbell Mattinson and Gary Walsh, The Big Red Wine Book 2010/11
Stonewell is the finest Barossa shiraz of the modern era. A monumental call, but no other comes close in its consistency across more than two decades, its core of profound longevity and the ever-escalating grandeur of its finest vintages. 2006 is a maelstrom of concentrated power and uncompromising composure like none that has gone before it. Screw cap for the first time! Drink 2021-2031; 97 points; Tyson Stelzer in Wine Taste
I gave this wine the highest score of any in the show! This is an epic vintage for the finest and most age-worthy Barossa shiraz of all. It ricochets with liquorice and black fruits but its composure and poise are unswerving, laced together by a ribbon of ultra-fine tannins. Twenty year potential...The pattern of even-numbered vintages continues, here reaching levels of concentration, structure and balance as lofty as any before it. The palate is utterly powerful, ricocheting with black fruits of all kinds, liquorice, sarsaparilla and mint. In the midst of this maelstrom, its composure and poise are uncompromising, laced together by a ribbon of ultra-fine, deeply set tannins. 97 points; Tyson Stelzer
Stonewell is made from the very best of the superlative Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz vineyards. The grapes are drawn only from low-yielding vineyards in the drier western areas of the Barossa Valley. These vineyards, some planted well over 100 years ago, produce sparse bunches with tiny berries – small black jewels – the secret of Stonewell Shiraz.
