Tahbilk’s Old Vines Cabernet Shiraz draws on some of the most historically significant vineyard blocks on the estate, combining Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz from old vine plantings whose age and site character lend the wine a depth and structural complexity that distinguishes it from more conventional blended reds in the region. The Purbrick family, whose stewardship of Tahbilk spans five generations since 1925, has always maintained that the estate’s greatest strength lies in the age of its vines and the distinctiveness of the Nagambie Lakes microclimate to produce wines of character far beyond their price point.

The Nagambie Lakes appellation in Central Victoria sits above the Goulburn River floodplain, where the river’s proximity moderates temperatures and the sandy alluvial subsoils combined with loamy red ironstone surfaces provide an ideal medium for Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz of considerable structure and longevity. The 2019 growing season in the region delivered excellent ripening conditions, with warm days and moderate temperatures producing a vintage of good concentration and freshness across the estate’s red varieties. The Old Vines blend benefits from this vintage context and from Alister Purbrick’s open-vat fermentation and mixed oak ageing regime, a traditional approach that has remained essentially unchanged since the estate’s earliest red wine releases.

The Tahbilk Old Vines Cabernet Shiraz occupies an interesting market position: it is a collectible wine of genuine pedigree and historical depth from one of Australia’s most important and least commercialised estates, yet it is produced in sufficient volume to be accessible to a wide range of wine lovers. The estate has a reputation for producing wines that improve substantially with bottle age, and the Old Vines label’s multi-decade-old vine composition gives it an inherent complexity that rewards patience in the cellar. Alister Purbrick’s winemaking philosophy has always emphasised the importance of picking fruit at exactly the right moment of natural ripeness to preserve freshness alongside concentration.

Deep ruby with a complex nose of dark cherry, plum, dried herbs, earthy minerality, cedar and a hint of vanillin from the American oak component. The palate is medium to full-bodied with savoury, firm tannins and a long, food-friendly finish of considerable persistence. Drinking well now but with the structure to develop further through 2030.