From Rosé to Shiraz: Exploring Sanguine Estate’s 2023 Vintage Gems
When the annual James Halliday Wine Companion announces a 5 Red Star winery and awards red wines scores as high as 95 and 96 points, I generally sit up and take notice. This year, the release of the 2025 Companion listed Victorian producer Sanguine Estate in this elite category. With such accolades, what else could I do but taste my way through as much of their range as I could get my hands on?
Sanguine 2023 Rosé
“Slay the rosé,” they say. These days, young hipsters drink the pink as if their attachment to a mobile device depends on it! Even the blokes are imbibing “brosé” as a summer sipper or simply as a prop for that perfect beach pic in boardies and sunglasses that might make them Insta-famous. And with wines like the Sanguine 2023 Rosé (Shiraz/Merlot), it’s easy to see why. Bright, lively, with a hint of Fuji apple sweetness, a savoury herbaceousness collides with rose petals and hints of smoky redcurrants, before a touch of acidity cuts through on the finish. At $29 a bottle at the cellar door, this pink gets the wink!
2023 Progeny Shiraz (95 points)
In the glass, this entry-level Shiraz offering from Sanguine is more inky purple than the Ghost Who Walks and oozes plums, boysenberries, and concentrated blackberries from the first sip. Through the middle, lively spices cajole the reluctant tannins to embrace the brooding dark fruits just moments before a savoury wave crashes down on a brambly, spicy conclusion. It’s classic Heathcote colour and intensity in a complex wine that seems destined to only get better with age.
Sanguine 2023 Chardonnay
Sanguine’s take on the most noble of white wine varietals is all about biscuit, zest, and acid. Neither Chablis style nor traditional Burgundy, it’s as though the winemaker has dragged a reluctant rockmelon bride to an altar of toast, melon, and cashews before lemon zest and forthright acids consummate the conclusion. If you enjoy a bit of zip and zing with your Chardonnay, this one’s probably your bling!
Sanguine 2023 Cabernets
The 2023 vintage may have presented a few challenges in the Heathcote region, but for this Bordeaux-style blend, it might have been a blessing in disguise. In its youth, the Cabernet is still a little stalky and green; the violets and cassis give the impression of laying in wait, preparing to launch their claim for world domination. But this wine is going to be a ripper in time – earthy plums, wet gravel, blackberries, and smoky nutmeg – all the ingredients for a cracking Cabernet blend are lingering just below the surface. Watch this space; the 2023 Sanguine Cabernets is going to impress the judges in time!
2021 Inception Shiraz
The Estate-level Sanguine Shiraz is a deep, brooding purple in the glass and challenges your willpower to resist that first fateful sip. She’s kittenish on the nose – the allure of cassis, the seduction of blackberries, the coquettish grin of wild fennel. On the palate, bright plums meet liquorice and serenade in a duet of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton proportions, while an earthy savouriness hums the harmony. I love the dulcet tones of profound French oak and tannins that croon the melody to a mellifluous conclusion. It’s music to my palate! For what it’s worth, I thought the Inception was probably the best value wine in the current release, though the Cabernet also surprised on the upside! Cabernet isn’t a varietal that I ordinarily expect to be outstanding when it comes from Heathcote, but maybe that’s just my cognitive bias? Plenty of experts routinely give a big wrap to wines of dubious quality – so much so that sometimes I wonder if I tried the same plonk! But when it comes to Australian wine, there’s no more reliable bible than Halliday’s Companion, and his 5 Red Star Wineries are undeniably in elite company