2022 Torbreck 'Les Amis' Grenache

19+/20 Points, Matthew Dukes, matthewjukes.com
While I have always admired Les Amis, it has never hit the high notes in my reviews, preferring the elegance, openness and immediacy of Hillside.  While Les Amis has always packed a punch, it has often felt a little ponderous and heavy-handed.  All this has changed in 2022.  This is a mobile, swirling, dynamic wine with a superbly suave onslaught of fruit, accompanied by gorgeous spice and earthiness.  This is a toned, rippling Les Amis and its bass amp throbs away while Transylvanian hearth notes spread moments of fear and reverence.  There is a decent slug of whole bunch action (around 20%), and with Stockinger oak employed, the finest carpentry caress is guaranteed.  This is a more open and conversational Les Amis, and I am thrilled to say that it still possesses a hint of malevolence throughout, which keeps the pulse ticking over!  

96 points, Dave Brookes, The Wine Companion
My good mate used to live in the house next to the Slade vineyard. I've wandered these vines quite a few times with a Cooper's Pale in my hand; the vines are epic, gnarly old beasts, some of the best. Pure satsuma plum fruits daubed with souk-like spice along with hints of gingerbread, pomegranate, cola, char siu, biltong, dried citrus rind, some amaro herbs and an expression of blood orange. It's no airy, fragrant style. There's resonance and power here, abundant spice, bright acidity and a solid core of plum and ginger that rolls along nicely.

94 Points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2022 Les Amis Grenache is from a dry-grown Grenache vineyard, at around 320 meters in elevation, with blue stone, schist and ironstone on a bedrock of clay. Perfume and aromatic lift define the wines made from this place. It matured in small casks, with 30% to 40% new oak. The wine is rich, chocolaty, dense and fulsome, with dry savory spice and a variety of deli meats on the palate. It's a powerhouse of a wine, all gnarled muscle and gravelly length, accurately underpinned by pomegranate, wet garden rose and ferruginous tannins. 15% alcohol, sealed under natural cork and wax.