Review by: Robert Parker
Wine Advocate: Issue 161, October 2005
Rating: 98 POINTS

The 2003 Les Amis is a 300-case cuvee of 100% Grenache from a vineyard planted in 1901. I have had a lot of fun serving the 2002 blind to guests, and for my taste, this cuvee is the reference point for old vine Grenache produced in Australia. It is extraordinarily elegant for a wine of such power, richness, and intensity. Amazingly delineated, with a dense ruby/purple color as well as a gorgeously sweet nose of smoke, spice box, black cherry liqueur, creme de cassis, licorice, and lavender, it offers impressive balance, purity, opulence, and persistence. This phenomenal wine is both powerful and refreshingly elegant. A magnificent achievement for Torbreck, it should drink well for 15+ years. David Powell, unquestionably one of the world's finest wine producers, has an uncanny ability to discover old vine Barossa vineyards, and then secure long term contracts for their fruit. It is amazing that such high quality sources have not already been plucked by Australia's giant wine corporations. Torbreck's wines continue to get better and better, combining the old vine ripe fruit of Barossa with a European sensitivity to elegance and balance. The finest wines in this portfolio are pricy, but David Powell delivers some remarkable reds and whites at prices that are more than fair for the quality in the bottle.