When I have the privilege of tasting a vertical sequence of quality Barossa reds two things stand out. The remarkable quality making them a delight to drink and secondly how the great vintages do shine through, so mature wines like 1998 and 1996 retain better colour and just have a taste edge over the others.
This observation has given me the feel that the 2018 which came off the back of the large 2017 crop will be something special. While it belongs with the three drought years 2018, 2019 and 2020 the vintage was more normal than the two later ones as even with drip irrigation the soils dry out.
Being an enthusiast for this Bengalee I reason that if you do have suitable storage the maturing changes with time will provide interesting drinking.
The first Bengalee vintage was the 2008 and is still a beautiful drink.
