Old Plains Power of One Shiraz 2004 - Rewiews

Jamie Goode - Wine Anorak UK - November 2005 http://www.wineanorak.com/barossa/new_barossa17_domenictorzi.htm

Old Plains Power of One Shiraz 2004
Utterly fantastic nose of complex dark fruits with a subtle spiciness and some earthy character. There's also some beguiling notes of subtle autumn leaves and dry straw, under the rich blackcurrant fruit. The palate shows a huge concentration of bright fresh fruit with seamless, spicy, earthy tannic structure. It's hard to see past the forward fruit at the moment, but there's plenty of structure here.
93-96/100

Campbell Mattinson - Winefront Monthly - December 2005
www.winefront.com.au

Old Plains Power of One Shiraz 2004
Luscious and lovely, full of licorice and spice and earth, loaded with silken, fine, beautifully ripened tannins and coal-black to its heart. This is a beautiful, sweet-fruited, proportioned wine that I’d happily chew on all evening. It will age, but it will be best young. Drink: 2006-2009.
92 points.

Phillip White The Advertiser Food and Wine - March 2006

Old Plains Power of One Shiraz 2004
Max Schubert taut me to respect Adelaide Plains red from old vines like these fifty - somethings - he liked to include it in Grange. This one's acrid and tough to sniff, like hot bitumen and cracked dolomite. The palate's tight, but quite slender, without overt viscosity. It tastes of licorice and blackcurrant. Lovely furry tannins finish the job..... Osso bucco with black olives.
92 points.

Dave Brookes Vinosense

Old Plains Power of One Shiraz 2004
Domenic Torzi and Tim Freeland are doing some super things with fruit sourced from the Adelaide Plains and this wine is testimate to their efforts. Super nose!!….perfumed blackcurrant, blueberry and dark plums with hints of milk chocolate, vanilla, licorice, fragrant soft spices and a waft of wood smoke. Medium to full bodied on the palate……and it’s a palate that packs quite a punch. Super concentrated blackfruits and black plums, licorice, ‘Old Jamacian’ chocolate and spice laid on an earthy bed. The structure is brilliant with ripe, firm tannins and a lovely bright acidity, all in balance with the deep set vibrant fruit. A powerful wine that drinks great now and will cellar well……but why wait…..tonight is the first night I have lit the fire this year and this wine is doing a great job of warming me up from the inside. Good stuff…….
92 points

Ric Einstein - Torb Wine - December 2005
http://torbwine.com/home.shtml

Blackcurrant, spice (both pepper and cinnamon) earthy notes and vanillin/coffee French Oak. Upon first tasting, the wine was tight and hard work; bucket loads of approaching silky tannins, that sucked the sides of the mouth in, combined with very ripe deeply-seated concentrated fruit, that delivered a gob full of strong blackberry, blackcurrant, spice and eventually liquorice emerged. A full-bodied wine, it has a firm consistency, rock solid structure and well developed complexity. As it opened it became more approachable but anyone buying it should realise it needs a big sleep. It seems to walk a knife edge of extraction, power and ripeness and if the winemaker has got it right, given 5+ years it could be terrific.
Recommended with *** for value now.

Gavin Trott - www.auswine.com.au

Old Plains Power of One Shiraz 2004
Wow, this is one deeply coloured (purple black), hugely concentrated, intense wine. Hugely impressive effort, the nose evolves over time revealing deep liquorice scented plum and blackberry soaked fruit that appears to have swallowed up most of the oak. The wine, despite its power, is not the slightest bit jammy or over ripe, the palate shows dense fruits, dark berries black berries and plums, with touches of earth and exotic spices, hints white pepper and much more. The wine is looooong, with firm but fine tannins stretching out. Slow to open up and with a fantastic structure, this powerful wine needs a little sleep to begin to show the complexities that will develop with time. I think it will become a beauty! Great stuff

Longhop Old Vine Reserve 2004 - Rewiews

Dave Brookes - Vinosense - January 2006  
http://www.vinosense.com

Longhop Old Vine Reserve 2004
Now this is the sort of wine that will embed the Adelaide Plains in people’s minds, as a region that can produce some seriously good wine.
This wine is produced from 50 year old cabernet (65%) & shiraz (35%) vines and Domenic Torzi & Tim Freeland are the men spreading the word…..and the word will get around.

2004 was a pretty hot vintage in this neck of the woods but Domenic & Tim have managed to craft a wine that is abundant in thickset, deep blackfruits, mulberry, herbs, licorice, spice, dark bitter chocolate and menthol with floral hints and a soothing earthy under-belly….there is a savoury lick to the finish, abundant ripe tannin and the finish bodes well for an extended sleep in the cellar….this is a wine that lets the fruit talk…..only 25% new oak, whole bunch pressed and looks mighty smart……weighs in at 14.5% alcohol, sealed by screwcap and will set you back around $30 AUD….. only 160 cases produced and well worth hunting down: Drink: Now - 2012
92 points

Jamie Goode - Wine Anorak UK - November 2005 http://www.wineanorak.com/barossa/new_barossa17_domenictorzi.htm

Longhop Old Vine Reserve 2004
Lovely rich nose of pure, vivid fruit with a bright blackcurrant and raspberry character and a nice spicy lift. The palate has interesting weight: it shows lots of lush, pure fruit with a subtle, spicy structure. A really interesting wine which is in balance, although dominated a little by the pure, smooth fruit at present. Good potential. Very good/excellent. 92-94/100

Ric Einstein - Torb Wine - December 2005
http://torbwine.com/home.shtml

Longhop Old Vine Reserve 2004
Labelled "Old Vine Reserve" on the front of the bottle, in a smart marketing move, there is no mention of the fact that this is a 65% Cabernet and 35% Shiraz blend; you have to look on the back of the bottle to find that information, as well as the fact that it comes from 55 year old Adelaide Plains vines and that 160 dozen bottles have been produced.

In order to give this wine is an excellent chance of showing its best, as it is sealed in a ROTE, it was decanted seven and a half hours previously. Despite the extended decanting time, the wine's bouquet was still broody but showed tight, dark berry fruit, mushroom and ink. Impeccably structured and balanced, the wine shows some class. Ample-weight, with a firm consistency, a solid but tight structure, and well-developed harmonious complexity; this is a very good example of the blend. Plum, blackcurrant, some brambly characters, green bean, cigar box and milk chocolate flavours finish with good length and persistence. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value
Copyright © Ric Einstein

Campbell Mattinson - Winefront Monthly - December 2005
Longhop Old Vine Reserve 2004

This is made off 50 year old cabernet and shiraz vines grown in the Adelaide Plains from a vintage that got a bit too hot but then produced the goods in spades. That heat seems to have robbed this wine of some of its fruit definition, but to deny its quality would be ridiculous: this is sweet and deep and black, with raisiny blackcurrant, licorice, menthol, earth and dried herbs sailing on a raft of delicious, superfine, substantial tannin. There’s still a raspberried, chocolatey brightness here and a lift of violet-like mouth perfume certainly seduces. It drinks very well now, though you could keep it almost indefinitely. Drink: 2006-2014. 94 points.

Campbell Mattinson - Winefront Monthly - December 2005
Old Plains Power of One Shiraz 2004

Luscious and lovely, full of licorice and spice and earth, loaded with silken, fine, beautifully ripened tannins and coal-black to its heart. This is a beautiful, sweet-fruited, proportioned wine that I’d happily chew on all evening. It will age, but it will be best young. Drink: 2006-2009. 92 points.

Gavin Trott - www.auswine.com.au

Longhop Old Vine Reserve 2004
Another wonderful new wave approach to one of the blends Australia, especially South Australia, does best, Shiraz and Cabernet, this is classy stuff, but serious wine. It has a deep colour, ripe, very concentrated fruit with the Cabernet dominating the nose at this stage with cassis and red and black berries, spices and just a hint of chocolate, very inviting. The palate shows the Shiraz component, lush raspberry and blackberry fruits, spices, earth and finishing long with fine grippy tannins, dry and savoury, built to cellar 10 years plus. Once again, this will be a very limited release.

Phillip White The Advertiser Food and Wine - May 2006

Longhop Old Vine Reserve 2004
“Domenic Torzi and Tim Freeland are behind this delicious plains blend, taken from the oldest (50 years plus) vines in the district. It's prettily minty and musky to sniff, with shots of blueberry and violet. The palate's deliciously creamy and cheeky, more slender than that alcohol would hint, with a texture and a slow rise of furry dry tannins. Shanks with hearty tomato and olive sauce.
93 points

Longhop Old Vine Grenache 2005 - Rewiews

Jamie Goode - Wine Anorak UK - November 2005 http://www.wineanorak.com/barossa/new_barossa17_domenictorzi.htm

Longhop Old Vine Grenache 2005
Sweet, opulent and lush on the nose with a liqueur-like edge and subtle herb and tea notes. Beguiling. There’s a lovely supple texture to the bright fruit on the palate, which displays undercurrents of earthiness and spice. There’s already a bit of complexity, but I reckon this superb wine will develop very interestingly. It carries its high alcohol (just under 16%) quite well. 
Very good/excellent. 93+/100

Gavin Trott - www.auswine.com.au

Longhop Old Vine Grenache 2005
The colour is dense, dark and crimson. The nose is intense and crisp there is loads of latent fruit power here. Wonderful crushed berries jump from the glass surrounded by nutmeg and cinnamon, before intense black berries, super ripe raspberries and plummy fruits take over, I could sniff this thing all day! The palate is all texture being thick and sexy. Its lush, opulent, flamboyant and loaded with fruits, squashed plums, hints of liquorice and those super ripe rasberries again, the oak taking a back seat, absolutely delicious. The wine ends with the taste of bitter cherries that last long after the finish. Terrific stuff, with great potential to build complexity with cellar time. Great effort, and seriously over delivering at the price! - the auswine panel

Longhop Boomerang Shiraz 2005 - Rewiews

Jamie Goode - Wine Anorak UK - November 2005 http://www.wineanorak.com/barossa/new_barossa17_domenictorzi.htm

Longhop Boomerang Shiraz 2005
Wonderful nose of pure, sweet blackcurrant fruit with a sweet cassis character. Seamless and smooth. The remarkable palate is bold and rich with lovely pure fruit, but it’s all in balance and avoids being jammy. Nice structure. Brilliant winemaking.
Very good/excellent. 93+/100

Gavin Trott - www.auswine.com.au

Longhop Boomerang Shiraz 2005
Deep dark black red, this is a glass stainer if ever we've seen one! Great depth of colour, and a brooding nose, deep dark and enticing, blackberries, plums, wild berries and fruits, with intriguing hints of fennel, milk chocolate, plums earth and much more, powerful nose, 100% Shiraz. The palate is quite amazing, for any price, but at this price, staggering. Intensity to spare, powerful and totally fruit dominant with a velvety mouthfeel and fruit that fills every corner of the mouth. Again, its all powerful dark berries and plums, spices, rich, ripe but balanced, with a super long chocolatey finish. Tannins are there, firm but ripe, and it has a loong loong smooth finish. Rich intense, powerful and very very moorish, this just shows what Adelaide Plains fruit can do in the right hands, a stunner.
This is not a medium weight wine, or for those who like those styles ... its serious, intense and rich, but never jammy or overdone. The panel's estmates at price (all wines tried double blind) varied from $25 to $35+, and worth every cent.