2019 John Duval Wines Plexus Barossa Valley 750 ml

John Duval is a legend. There’s no other way to put it.

For 17 years, the Aussie native was the guiding hand behind Penfolds Grange—without a doubt one of the greatest wines in the world—and in his time there he acquired something money can’t buy: an intimate knowledge of Australia’s old vines—ones ranging from 50 to over a hundred years old. He also cultivated the relationships needed to get his hands on their sweet black bunches

Those decades of networking and hands-on experience are on full display in the 2019 John Duval Plexus, his answer to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A super-seamless, super-concentrated, “studied expression of velvet,” as one critic called it, this bottle delivers the kind of lush, luxurious experience that will cost you double in the Rhône—not to mention the kind of 95-point score that you also see lavished on the big players in Châteauneuf.

In addition to Shiraz, GSM blends—Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvèdre—are arguably what Australia does best, and Duval, who uses a touch more Shiraz than Grenache in his Southern Rhône–inspired blend, is one of the masters. 

Never has Duval’s superb authorship been so apparent than in this blend, drawn from the same handpicked vineyards he worked for so long at Penfolds. Sourced from extremely old-vine vineyards in the Barossa towns of Krondorf, Marananga, Ebenezer, Tanunda, and Light Pass, Plexus is a blend of 45% Shiraz, 32% Grenache, and 23% Mourvèdre.

In the 2019 vintage, spring frosts and dry conditions in the Barossa Valley meant yields were down 50% but produced what Duval called “a year for texture, structure and richness.” Drink it now or cellar it for a few years—either way you’ll thank yourself.