2023 Brioni’s Blend

This wine blew my mind last year and once again it has hit the mark. So juicy, it’s a a fabulous slurp. The same makeup as the 2022, this 2023 release sees Mataro, Touriga, and Shiraz fused together once more. Dried petals and pretty scents of blue flowers are partnered by vibrant blue and purple fruit. Touriga has an absolute ability to bring the prettiness and it’s no different here. Some meatiness in the form of pan juices skirts the edges with a basket of berry fruit and blueberry/mulberry pie delight. Long with a little tension to keep you curious, it’s a luscious and engaging wine. For $35, you are doing very well. Go here. Drink to five years. 93 points

- Qwine

Brioni’s Blend is a style centred upon the unusual trio of Mataro (aka Mourvèdre), Touriga Nacional and Shiraz. In a cool year, which ’23 was, we see Touriga’s potent level of bold tannin and marked acidity coming into play. Touriga brings a tight structure to this wine, asking its fruit friendly buddies to step up and provide more flesh. Still, that firmness of structure will ensure more years in the cellar should you be considering ageing. Gentle florals with violet to the fore combine with lush black and red fruit aromas. The palate slows things down a little, reserved and quiet at this stage, and building in fruit intensity in dark fruits, dried herbs, spices and budding florals. 90 points

- Jeni Port

Dark, inky and opaque in the glass. Meaty, dark fruited aromas of plum, mulberry, dried herbs, geranium and pot pourri; the touriga is really evident here. Fleshy, mouth-filling and generously flavoured. Black fruits, spice, oak and firm tannins are all doing their thing. Long, layered, textured and plenty of juice here for the money. 91 points

- Aaron Brasher

Interesting blend here from McLaren Vale with 55% Mataro, 24% Touriga and 21% Shiraz. This is the fourth release of Brioni’s Blend, but the combination does vary each time. 4,299 bottles only. Brioni, like winemaker Corrina Wright, is 6th generation yet not keen for immortalisation on a wine bottle. The team took no notice, of course, but one would have to think that Brioni might well have changed her mind given how impressive the wines have been. Inky dark maroon in colour, this is attractively perfumed with chocolate, mocha, soy, blackberries, cloves and leather. There is a sweet core of cassis and chocolate, really dark chocolate. The texture is supple, the structure seamless, and the finish lingers. Enjoy it now and for six years. Brioni is not the only one who should be enamoured of this wine. 93 points

- Ken Gargett