The 2023 The Barking Dog is a blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro (Mourvèdre for those not in Australia or Portugal). Aromatically, the wine leads with plum jam, aniseed, black cherry, fennel seeds and raw cocoa - all serving as entrée to the sweet, pure-fruited palate. The wine is shaped by ferruginous tannins, no doubt a product of the ancient ironstone upon which the Barossa is formed. This is a wine that nods to the old school, with layers of roasted meat, brick dust and chewy tannins, but it heads in a decidedly modern, medium-bodied direction. This is excellent. It has a foot in both camps yet forsakes neither. Drink date: 2025-2038. Score - 94. (Erin Larkin, robertparker.com, April 25, 2025)