12 Bekkers from the great SA 2021 & 2022
Vintages - Plus 4 Museum Releases from
2016, 2017, 2019.
Monday 15 September
Hosted by Owner and Winemaker, Toby Bekkers
Masterclass: 5.30-7pm, Wines with Kate Lamont nibbles, $95
Dinner: 7:30pm, Wines & 4 Course Menu, $155
McLaren Vale Grenache Status…Reaching for the Stars
“South Australia: McLaren Vale Grenache – The Star is Rising.”
Article headline, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Once shunned, now prized:why grenache has become highly valued.
Max Allen, The Australian Financial Review
McLaren Vale has established a style that is unique in its balance of fine tannic structure and weightlessness in the mouth.
Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Now, it’s arguably the most exciting grape in Australia. It’s certainly among the most expensive.
Max Allen, The Australian Financial Review
It’s not possible to overstate the elegance and refinement to be found here, and I’d wager that we (the drinkers) and they (the producers) are only at the beginning of the journey.
Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
The sandy soil vineyards of the Blewitt Springs subregion of McLaren Vale have taken on an almost mythic quality for a growing number of
winemakers; doyen of Australian wine critics James Halliday has described wines from this part of the world as “the holy of holies”.
Max Allen, The Australian Financial Review
“The McLaren Vale Grenache story is a very important one to the global world of Grenache”
Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“After waiting patiently for decades…the world has finally woken up to its potential”
Wine Pilot
“Australian Grenache has greater ageing potential than wines made from the country's flagship red variety, Shiraz”
The UK’s Sarah Ahmed, The Drinks Business and Decanter
“Is this Grenache revival a fad, or here to stay? I'd argue the latter”
Dr Jamie Goode, Wine Australia
“… but only about 6 per cent of McLaren Vale’s vineyards are planted to grenache, and only about 3 per cent are old vineyards.”
Max Allen, The Australian Financial Review
Steve Pannell: “There’s no grenache made anywhere in the world that tastes like this. It’s uniquely its own thing.”
Max Allen, The Australian Financial Review
Critics on Bekkers…
“… A wine that defies the laws of gravity”.
99 Points James Halliday, The Weekend Australian Magazine
“This wine is astoundingly good.”
98 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
“It’s a powerhouse… an astonishing wine of incredible force and persistence.”
97 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
“This glimpses the finest crus of the northern Rhône through the lens of the Vale. Exciting. Exceptional. Rewarding.”
96 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
“The palate is beautifully concentrated…A superb wine”
96 points, Andrew Caillard MW, Vintage Journal
“A truly unique Grenache...Remarkable and utterly fascinating”
96 Points, Shanteh Wale, Winepilot
“Bekkers has become one of McLaren Vale’s star performers.”
Andrew Caillard MW
“Bekkers is a Star.”
James Halliday
… And then the Bekker’s place in that hierarchy? …
A STORY OF SOIL AND SOUL
In McLaren Vale, South Australia, the Bekkers story is born of a rare connection with nature and a world of experience. We have been fortunate to encounter some of the best the wine world has to offer, but nothing has diminished our conviction that McLaren Vale can deliver world class wines. We aim to be an emblem for fine wine in our region.
Our wines are gently crafted in tiny quantities, with an accent on finesse and fine texture. We strive to inspire confidence and push the limits of what’s possible for McLaren Vale and Australian wine. Available at just a handful of Australia’s premier restaurants and wine merchants, the majority of our production is reserved for our allocation list.
Our fine wines are loved by devotees world-wide with whom we have formed strong relationships. They share an appreciation for craftsmanship infused with the efforts and soul of the maker. As small family winemaker, we aspire to stand proud amid the world’s most coveted wines and their craftsmen.
This is a story of special wine……from the soil to the soul.
Toby & Emmanuelle Bekkers.
The Menu & Wine List
On Arrival
2023 Petit Chablis
First Course
2022 Tome
Deep crimson. Intense dark plum, blackberry pastille, dark cherry, dark chocolate, hint marzipan aromas. Classical, generous and round with dark plum, dark cherry fruits, fresh chalky / hint grippy textures and underlying marzipan vanilla oak notes. Lovely weight, texture and flow with a crispy finish. Delicious to drink now. 63% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon 17% Grenache.
95 Points - Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal (July 2024)
2022 Grenache
Fruit amplifies on the palate with peaks of surging acid waves. A touch of oyster shell, blue river stone and dried gum leaf. Tannins spread like a cobweb, finely spun but with power, strength and light as air. There is a hemp nuance on the finish that adds intrigue and detail. A truly unique Grenache, with confidence in its whole bunch layering and plenty of dimension. Remarkable and utterly fascinating.
96 Points - Shanteh Wale, Winepilot (April 2024)
2017 Museum Grenache
Top 100 James Halliday Wine Companion Awards 2019
…Exemplary colour and clarity. As ever, a sumptuous wine, perfect in its balance and symmetry, everything in its seemingly preordained place. Bekkers is a star.
98 Points - James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion (March 2022)
Second Course
2022 Syrah Grenache
Deep crimson. Inky, chinotto dark plum, elderberry, blackberry aromas with hint marzipan, praline note. The palate is beautifully concentrated, with plentiful dark berry, roasted chestnut, marzipan, slightly dark chocolaty flavours, and fine slinky yet sinuous textures. Finishes chalky and minerally with chinotto notes. A superb wine. 75% Syrah 25% Grenache
96 Points - Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal (July 2024)
2019 Museum Syrah Grenache
The Bekkers Syrah Grenache is always Shiraz-dominant and made to a 70/30 or 60/40 margin. The flex, or variation in vintage expressions, comes from the flavor density shift from vintage to vintage. This 2019 Syrah Grenache is concentrated and supple, with layers of cassis, blackberry, raspberry coulis, pink peppercorn and a scrape of olive tapenade; it is balanced and mid-weight—almost leafy, with tobacco leaf and saltbush through the finish. It's a harmonious, zen wine.
95 Points - Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (July 29, 2022)
2016 Museum Syrah Grenache
A 69/31% blend from five vineyards fermented and matured separately, whole berries and 20% whole bunches open-fermented with gentle plunging, matured in used French oak before blending. An exercise in complexity from start to finish in flavour, texture and structure. This has a European touch to the way intensity and elegance dance a pas de deux. It changes shape once again with a magical burst of flavour than lingers forever.
97 Points - James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion (June 2021)
Third Course
2021 Syrah
5 star and Ranked #2 of 71, 2021 Shiraz from McLaren Vale Huon Hooke The Real Review
Deep, bold, bright red-purple colour with essency aromas of black fruits, blackberry/blackcurrant, the flavours bold and primary, full-bodied, rich and generous, with traces of star anise and licorice, poised high on the ripeness scale but certainly gets away with it. Opulent and hedonistic, a full-bodied and plush shiraz that already drinks superbly and should have a long career.
97 Points - Huon Hooke, The Real Review
2020 Syrah
#1 of 19, 2020 Shiraz from McLaren Vale, Huon Hooke The Real Review
Clarendon and Seaview sourcing, harvested across staggered windows to impart textural detail and freshness. Fermented wild with gentle pumpovers. 50% bunches in the mix. Basket pressed to 500L French wood (55% new). The end result, as with all wines here, is one of consummate class and refinement. While the grenache is the leading light, this sits comfortably in 2nd place. Carnal spice, pepper grind, salami and blue to darker fruits are strung across bow of saline tannic tension, rolled into a firm gristly knot. Superlative grape tannins, mind you, extracted with a confident aplomb. The oak, a mere echo. This glimpses the finest crus of the northern Rhône through the lens of the Vale. Exciting. Exceptional. Rewarding.
96 Points - Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion (August 2022)
2016 Museum Syrah
Deeply coloured; as usual, a very complex shiraz loaded to the gills with the blackest of black fruits. While tannins and new oak are an essential part of the bouquet and palate, they remain the servants of the fruit. Even in this display of power, there is balance and symmetry that will guarantee a minimum 40-year life."
97 Points - James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion (June 2021)
Fourth Course
2023 McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon
Hand picked from the steeply sloped, contour-planted proprietary Clarendon site, a '90s vineyard originally planted in the 19th century that promises much excitement in the future. Emmanuelle and Toby Bekkers believe this part of McLaren Vale is ideal for cabernet (this has 10% cabernet franc, too), yielding varietally on-point, elegant wines. It’s hard to argue with that based on this evidence. Fragrant, classically leafy but ripe, poised and elegant, with mulberry, currant, pencil shavings, pepper, cedar, a maritime kombu/nori note and a lilt of violet. It’s deeply flavoured but so pure, elegant and unforced. This takes McLaren Vale cabernet to new heights.
97 Points - Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion (June 2025)
2023 Clarendon Syrah
From the Clarendon vineyard that Emmanuelle and Toby Bekkers acquired in '20 after being planted in the '90s. The history runs longer than that though, with the notably steep site first planted between 1842 and ’48. It’s clear this is a special vineyard, one of the coolest in the Vale, contour planted on vertiginous terraces. This is an extraordinary wine. Sweetly spiced, layered with sultry dark florals and blue and red fruits, this has such impeccable harmony on both nose and palate, the suppleness of fruit and perfectly extracted, caressing tannins dreamlike. Intense but weightless. Imbedded is a mineral line, lavender, some pressed violet, olive, nori, all so seamless. It’s startlingly good – a wine of breathtaking class and character.
98 Points - Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion (June 2025)
Wines Awards & Accolades
Syrah Grenache 2016 (Museum Release)
97 Points James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion (June 2021)
95 Points James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (May 2020)
95 Points Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate (September 2018)
95 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review (March 2018)
18.5 Points Matthew Jukes
Syrah 2020
#1 of 19, 2020 Shiraz from McLaren Vale, The Real Review
96 Points Ned Godwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion (August 2022)
96 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (September 2022)
18+Points Richard Hemming, jancisrobinson.com (August 2022)
95 Points James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (October 2022)
95 Points Andrew Caillard, The Wine Journal
95 Points Angus Hughson, Winepilot (August 2022)
95 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review (February 2022)
Syrah 2016 (Museum Release)
97 Points James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion (June 2021)
95 Toni Paterson, The Real Review (January 2019)
95 Points Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
18 Points Jancis Robinson,jancisrobinon.com (July 2018)
94 Points Joe Czerwinsky, The Wine Advocate (September 20180
94 Points James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (June 2019)
Grenache 2022
96 Points Shanteh Wale, Winepilot (April 2024)
96 Points Aaron Brasher, The Real Review (March 2024)
95 Points Angus Hughson, Winepilot (February 2024)
95 Points Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion (June 2024)
95 Points Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal (July 2024)
94 Points Ned Godwin MW, jamessuckling.com (February 2024)
Grenache 2021
98 Points James Halliday, The Weekend Australian Magazine
96 Points Stuart Knox, The Real Review (February 2023)
97 Points Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal
95+ Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (September 2023)
95 Points Ned Godwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion (July 2023)
17.5 Points Max Allen, Jancis Robinson (May 2023)
Grenache 2017 (Museum Release)
Top 100 James Halliday Wine Companion Awards 2019
98 Points James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion (March 2022)
96 Toni Paterson, The Real Review (April 2019)
96 Points Wine Enthusiast (January 2022)
95 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review (February 2019)
94 Points James Suckling jamessuckling.com (June 2019)
Syrah Grenache 2022
96 Points Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal (July 2024)
96 Points Ray Jordan, Winepilot (March 2024)
96 Points Ned Godwin MW, jamessuckling.com (February 2024)
95 Points Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion (April 2024)
95 Points Rob Geddes, (June 2024)
95 Points Shanteh Wale, Winepilot (April 2024)
94 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (March 2024)
Syrah Grenache 2021
98 Points James Halliday, The Weekend Australian Magazine
97 Points Rob Geddes MW
97 Points Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal
96 Points Ned Godwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion (July 2023)
96 Points Stuart Knox, The Real Review (April 2023)
95 Points Angus Hughson, Winepilot (March 2023)
94 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (September 2023)