2018 John Duval Wines Entity Shiraz 750 ml

One bottle per order. 

One. Single. Bottle. That’s what Aussie red wine lovers are limited to when they buy John Duval’s 2018 Entity Shiraz from the winery website. The restriction seems over the top—until you realize it’s completely necessary to keep the hoarders at bay.  

That’s because the past five vintages of Entity have earned 95, 96, 96, 97, and 99 points from Australian critic James Halliday, and last year’s even took down Henschke’s Hill of Grace to claim the title of Australia’s Shiraz of the Year. With a track record like that—and a price that sits about 95% lower than that of the $600+ Henschke—a free-for-all would have predictable results: The wine would disappear in an instant, much of it then reappearing on the grey market for many times the price.

Fortunately, we’re half a world away from the fray, and got our allocation locked in early. Coming straight from the Duval cellars, this inky black, ripe and full-bodied blockbuster is ready to delight Wine Access members at $35 per bottle. It’s a red that the drinkers Down Under would give a limb for, so claim what you can right now, before the new vintage of this reigning Shiraz of the Year is history. 

John Duval is a legend, there’s no other way to put it. During the Aussie native’s nearly 30 years at Penfolds, 17 of which he spent as head winemaker, he crafted Grange, what the world anointed as Australia’s greatest First Growth Shiraz. In 2002, he left Penfolds to focus on his own small-production Shiraz. 

Going out on his own was a homecoming of sorts, because Duval’s family had been farming and growing grapes in Barossa since the 19th century, even supplying—drumroll, please—John’s former employer, Penfolds. That means that he came home to his choice of fantastic old-vine Shiraz.

Sourced equally from Australia’s warm Barossa Valley and the cooler Eden Valley, the 2018 Entity boasts serious power and beautiful balance. After 15 months in 300L French oak hogshead barrels (31% of which were new) it’s got jammy black fruits on the nose, softened by touches of vanilla, toast, and cocoa. Big, powerful, and muscular, the richness of the ripe black fruit contrasts nicely with the velour-textured tannins that make it such a delight to drink right now. 

This is stratospheric quality and concentration from one of the most legendary names in Aussie Shiraz, the kind that takes down titans priced 10-20 times higher. We hope no Australians are at home reading this, because we hate to rub it in… but you’ll want to claim much, much more than one bottle of this $35 spectacular red.