AWARDS + REVIEWS
2007 Plexus
93pts “Fine elegant and well structured, this balanced and approachable red blend has a fresh, briary and slightly confiture-like aroma of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries and sweet chocolate/vanilla oak with licorice and clove-like undertones. Its vibrant, mouthfilling and juicy, round and generous, delivering a smooth, creamy presence on the palate delightfully stuffed with dark fruits and underpinned by fine tannins. It finishes dusty and savoury, with meaty elements balanced by sweet oak.”
Jeremy Oliver, The Australian Wine Annual 2010
93pts “Bright, but light, colour; a fragrant bouquet of red fruits is replicated on the light-to medium- bodied palate, backed by gossamer fine, savoury tannins.”
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2010
92pts “This is one of the very best of its type, stunningly complex, balanced, seamless and full of Barossa generosity.”
Rob Geddes MW, “The Gold Book”, Australian Wine Vintages 2010
92pts “Deep ruby-red. Fresh raspberry and cherry aromas display a striking southern Rhone-like character, with complicating notes of dried flowers, spicecake and minerals. Juicy and smooth, with sweet red berry flavors and gentle tannins. The finish is brisk, gently sweet and long. No way I'd have guessed that this came from a drought year. Ninety percent of this wine was raised in five- or six-year-old French hogsheads, the rest in new casks.”
Josh Raynolds, Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar Autumn 2009
91+pts “John Duval Wines don’t take many steps wrong. This is a clean, pure, fruit-packed wine that still - despite its jammy, raspberried, blackberried flavours - manages some kind of elegance. It’s the polish, the lack of any overt alcohol heat, the undercurrent of earthy, loamy complexity. Really enjoy the juiciness here. Not sure it has quite the impact through the finish to warrant a higher rating. But the quality and enjoyment is clear here.”
Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, October 5 2009
2006 Plexus
95pts, “The 2006 Plexus is composed of 52% Shiraz, 30% Grenache, and 18% Mourvedre. Purple-colored, it offers up an exotic concoction of underbrush, violets, leather, black cherry, and blueberry pie. On the palate, this sexy effort is opulent, succulent, incipiently complex, and altogether hedonistic. It should perform well for a decade. In the scheme of things, it is also a terrific value."
Jay Miller, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate 2009
95pts "A beautifully balanced and utterly seamless array of red and black fruits, without a scintilla of confection character; lovely now or in 10 years. Bargain."
James Halliday 2009 Australian Wine Companion
93++pts "Lovely apt oak gives this exquisite Shiraz/Grenache/Mouvedre blend the air of an old Barossa barn: it seems like a long time ago. Whiffs of ancient spicebox and cedar coffee grinders add to the nostalgia; there's a piquant edge of aniseed, too. Then comes a rise of elegant fleshy fruit, very clean and modern. The palate is all silk and satin, with langorous, very fine tannins. It's superb now - especially if decanted - but will be majestic in a decade, under that screw cap. Perfect with a cassoulet of Kanmantoo smoked hock, plenty of chilli and black pepper."
Phillip White Independent Weekly, June 4, 2008
92pts "Pinot-like red fruits, minerals and flowers on the nose, with a gentle baking spice undertone. Sappy and fresh, with vivid raspberry, cherry and smoky mineral flavors. Gains weight and sweetness with air but maintains vivacity, finishing clean, brisk and juicy."
Josh Raynolds, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, July, 2008
100 Best Australian Wines for 2008 "John has cleverly managed to give this wine impeccable balance from the word go and that is a rare talent when you bear in mind the characteristics of the grapes in the mix. So when will it peak? I would be surprised if it doesn't make a decade in perfect nick. The Southern Rhone has never been under such pressure to respond to the challenge from Down Under."
Matthew Jukes The Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines, 2008.
Silver - International Wine Challenge, London 2008
2005 Plexus
93pts "I love the interplay of sweet, juicy fruit, supple tannins and understated oak. Finishes with the clarity, complexity and persistence of wines that cost three times the price. Once of the greatest values in Australian wine today."
Josh Raynolds, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, July 2007
92pts "Opaque purple-colored, it offers up an enticing bouquet of cedar, spice box, tobacco, smoked meat and game, black cherry, and blueberry. This is followed by a full-bodied wine with lush, opulent fruit, mouth-filling flavours, and a seamless, forward style.
Jay Miller, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, October 31, 2007
Silver - International Wine Challenge, London, 2007
2004 PLEXUS
Gold - 2006 International Wine Challenge, London
95 Points "Far more structure and substance than the majority of Barossa Valley blends of these varieties; abundant, spicy black fruits; excellent tannins and oak."
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion, 2007
93 Points "Rich, sumptuous bouquet of blueberries, tree bark, earth, pepper, and background floral scents." Robert Parker Jr, The Wine Advocate, October, 2006
Wine of the Week "Barossa reds are not always to my taste...But this one I found seriously well crafted, expressing Barossa's extreme heat and slightly medicinal quality but with great gentleness and approachability."
Jancis Robinson, Jancis Robinson.com, August 8, 2006
91 Points "Ripe blackberry and pomegranate flavours, balanced with lively acidity."
The Wine Spectator Insider, July 12, 2006
"Here's the former Grange maker's Barossa shiraz grenache mataro blend, and a beautiful thing it is. Fine, tight, intense and perfectly focused and balanced, it shows that you can get higher alcohol without jam and fudge. It has lovely viscosity but, like the French oak, even that's overshadowed a tad by the sheer tart intensity of the fruit. Twenty years.
Philip White, The Adelaide Advertiser April, 2006
"The Plexus, predictably is softer, broader, fleshier, more floral and fruit sweet- typical of Rhone blends - but, being Shiraz-dominant, it has better backbone than many of the more grenache-led Rhone styles about the place."
Huon Hooke, Syndey Morning Herald, March 14, 2006
2003 PLEXUS
94 Points "From Penfolds former winemaker's debut release is the 2003 Plexus, a brilliant blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre that was aged in 30% new French oak. At present there are only 500 cases of this stunning effort, but hopefully production will increase. A dense ruby/purple colour is followed by an extraordinarily precise nose of flowers, blackberries, kirsch, licorice and a hint of Provencal herbs. A pleasant smokiness and meaty richness also emerge as the wine sits in the glass. Opulent, full bodied, stunningly pure, and dense as well as elegant and well delineated, it can be drunk now or cellared for 10 to 12 years. Kudos to John Duval."
Robert Parker Jr, The Wine Advocate, October 2005
93 Points "If you love Barossa reds, this one feels like a best friend who's always there for you."
Wine and Spirit Magazine, June 2005
Duval made Grange when he was chief winemaker for Penfolds. No surprise, then, that this Shiraz/Grenache blend, the first wine to be released under his own label is a cracker: spicy, tightly wound wild berry fruit, fine tannins and superb length. Intense but elegant now, it should also age superbly.
Max Allen, The Australian Magazine, April 23-24, 2005
An excellent red, as you'd expect from the former Penfolds chief, cast in a complex, savory style without excess of oak or alcohol. The bouquet has nutmeg and other subtle spices, together with raspberry and cranberry fruit. Serious depth: now to 2010.
Huon Hooke, Sydney Morning Herald, Good Living, April 19, 2005
"Since leaving Southcorp, where he made flagships like Penfolds Grange, eyes have been on John Duval. What next for this celebrated winemaker? We have the answer: his own range of old-vine Barossa reds. The first installment is delicious and richly concentrated, all ripe berries, spices and dates with subtle oak, mouth coating texture and ripe, friendly tannins."
Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Melbourne Age Epicure Uncorked, March 22, 2005
94 Points "Duval returns to duty with a near perfect example of the traditional Barossa blend, but with more fragrance, finesse, elegance and intensity than most modern Barossa reds. The wine has astounding length and persistence and haunts the palate long after the glass empties. It's gently spicy, complex and silky with savoury velvet tannins to make you hungry. It'll cellar for at least 15 years, but it'll be very hard to keep past 2010 by which time it will be an absolute dream."
Philip White, The Adelaide Advertiser, February 24, 2005
