Polygon Project Retrospective, with Erin Larkin
Erin Larkin | RobertParker.com, 26 Sept 2025
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Amelia Nolan (winemaker), Daniel Coward (commercial director) and I are tasting through every vintage made of the Polygon 3 and 5 Grenache wines. I have requested this tasting, which has not been conducted before, in pursuit of a better understanding of how Grenache from the Barossa Valley ages over time. This is a historical variety here in Barossa, having been recorded in the ground since the late 1840s and 1850s, many of the original vines remain alive and producing today. The tasting spans 2018–2023, encapsulating years of drought, chronically low yields, COVID restrictions and style evolutions.
2023 Alkina Polygon 3 Grenache - 96pts
“The 2023 Polygon 3 Grenache was only just reviewed in March 2025 (it being August now at the time of tasting again), however today it is viewed within the context of the other Polygon 3 Grenache vintages, and so it bears mentioning that an additional note must be taken, even if it is just to couch it stylistically among its peers. 2023 was a cool/mild, wet season in Barossa —a year which finds similarity with 2017—and with plenty of incumbent pressure in the vineyards. Here, the wine looks altogether more savory and spice-driven, the fruit less powerful and the tannins more pronounced. It remains totally restrained and elegant and stylistically in line with the Alkina style. The score remains the same as it was in its original review, as it has not evolved significantly—or at all—in that time. 756 bottles filled, 13.5% actual alcohol (14% on the label), sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2025 – 2053.”
2023 Alkina Polygon 5 Grenache - 96pts
“The 2023 Polygon 5 Grenache was just reviewed in March 2025, so this "hot on the heels" tasting represents a contextual assessment of the wine among its vintage peers. The wine and vintage combination is a marvel here—while inherently more powerful, being grown on schist and clay, the power of the wine has been curtailed and restrained by the challenging growing conditions, which were cool and wet. The 2023s are very impressive wines, more savory than their counterparts perhaps but so restrained and elegant—words that have been on repeat since the beginning of this tasting. 979 bottles filled. 14% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2025 – 2053.”
2022 Alkina Polygon 3 Grenache - 98pts
“The 2022 Polygon 3 Grenache is supple and silky and perfectly represents the harmony and approachability of the 2022 wines from Barossa and Eden Valley. It is both lacy and substantial in texture, with very fine tannins that linger through the long finish. I love this wine, and find it to be so complex, nuanced and long. It is excellent and thrilling, in fact. There's an ashy undertone that is so beguiling here, like burning a pile of garden roses. It's just excellent. 795 bottles filled, 14% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2025 – 2052.”
2022 Alkina Polygon 5 Grenache – 97+pts
“The 2022 Polygon 5 Grenache is, as discussed, perfectly representative of the 2022 vintage. Art is beautiful. It is littered with garden roses, saline acidity, crushed minerals, graphite, pressed flowers and brine. It is diaphanous in its tannin shape, and it lingers in a most beautiful way. In terms of ranking it, I like it just behind the Polygon 3 Grenache of the same vintage but more than every other vintage of Polygon 5 Grenache that has yet been released. This is a superb wine. 806 bottles filled, sealed under natural cork. 14% alcohol. Drink: 2025 – 2052.”
2021 Alkina Polygon 3 Grenache – 96+pts
“The 2021 Polygon 3 Grenache has not yet been released, despite the most current release being the 2023. There was a significant wind event that shattered flowering in November 2020 and drastically reduced yields. The wine is powerful and intensely fruit driven, yet the tannins retain the hallmark finesse and restraint. This is a superb wine. These are savory and mineral-driven wines, and they are so elegant for it. This has more fruit power than other vintages around it, but the tannins are really the star here. 504 bottles filled. 14% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2027 – 2051.”
2021 Alkina Polygon 5 Grenache – 96+pts
“The 2021 Polygon 5 Grenache has not yet been released, despite the current release of the Polygon 5 Grenache being the 2023 vintage. The winemaker and commercial director here believe that, while it was a spectacular vintage, the wine is not yet ready. It certainly is powerful and deep, more so than any wine either side of it. While the following vintage, 2022, is typified by its supple elegance and openness, the 2021s are structured and powerful. If anything, this 2021 has a distinct plum note on the middle palate, and the finish just seems to continue unabated. Holding it back even another year or two is revealed to be obvious, if not unorthodox wisdom. 791 bottles, 14% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2027 – 2051.”
2020 Alkina Polygon 3 Grenache – 97pts
“The 2020 vintage was blessed with slightly better yields than 2019 (with 680 bottles this year as opposed to just 456 bottles the year prior). Aromatically, the 2020 Polygon 3 Grenache is as restrained as it is in the mouth, but here, the mineral cast to the tannin is more pronounced. This vintage features 100% whole bunches and no oak—it was fermented all in concrete and matured in a single concrete egg. This is a very fine wine with saline freshness and restraint that rides high. The vintage is so supple and so fresh, and this is a triumph more significant than the achievement in itself, if we consider the external conditions experienced by wine businesses with the emergence of COVID. Attention to detail is the defining attribute of this estate, not just in the vilification and maturation of the wines but, perhaps most crucially, in the vineyards via the vines and the soil. Bravo. 13.3% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2025 – 2050.”
2020 Alkina Polygon 5 Grenache – 97pts
“In a year that suffered widespread crop losses, the 2020 Polygon 5 Grenache enjoys the highest yield of its three-year span: 695 bottles. The wine is mineral and restrained, with lashings of red spices—paprika and even cayenne—pomegranate and redcurrant, hints of blood plum and licorice. This is a superstar and a tremendous wine that is improving with age. 13.7% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2025 – 2050.”
2019 Alkina Polygon 3 Grenache – 96pts
“2019 was a continuation of the warm drought conditions, with the added existence of tiny yields due to a significant frost event in late 2018. It was a tiny year in terms of total yield. Aromatically, the 2019 Polygon 3 Grenache leads with redcurrant and leather, layers of ground black pepper, graphite, pomegranate and green olive brine. The wine is more substantial and perhaps less nuanced than the 2018 tasted alongside, but its extra fruit concentration translates to a more heightened sense of tannin through the finish. This is a superb wine, and in terms of its aging arc, it feels as if it hasn't moved much since release. It is magnificent and has decades to go. 13.6% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2025 – 2049.”
2019 Alkina Polygon 5 Grenache – 96pts
“2019 was a continuation of the warm drought conditions, with the added existence of tiny The 2019 Polygon 5 Grenache is far more mineral and fine than the 2018 tasted alongside. Here, the wine is mineral and refined, with graphite, clove, licorice, pomegranate and blood plum. This is a superb wine, gorgeous, in fact. It retains a real Grenache power at the core but is totally restrained and nuanced as well. 528 bottles filled. 14% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2025 – 2049.”
2018 Alkina Polygon 3 Grenache – 96pts
“The 2018 Polygon 3 Grenache features older French oak barrel for the maturation, as does the 2019 vintage; however these are outliers in the lineup, and this will not be part of the cuvée's future. Aromatically, the wine leads with supple aged leather, graphite, woodsmoke and pomegranate. The wine is sophisticated and restrained, and the very slow aging has leant this wine complexity and subtlety. Texturally, the tannins are silky and very finely milled, further emphasizing the elegance of this cuvée. I love this wine far more now than when it was released. The 50% whole bunches have been rendered invisible with time. 13.8% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2025 – 2043.”
2018 Alkina Polygon 5 Grenache – 94pts
“The 2018 Polygon 5 Grenache is grown on schist and clay, as opposed to the Polygon 3 grown on limestone and schist. Here, the wine is ripe, dark, powerful and intense, with notes of licorice and dark chocolate, blood plum and forest floor. This is decidedly more brooding and "mushroomy" than the Polygon 3 wine tasted alongside. This is not a negative, but it is an observation. Interestingly, there was no oak in the fermentation or maturation. 568 bottles filled. 14.2% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2025 – 2043.”
2024 Estate Releases
2024 Alkina Estate Shiraz – 95pts
“The 2024 Estate Shiraz leaps out of the glass with black fruits and exotic spices. This was fermented and matured in concrete with some older oak foudre, and it shows in the textural elegance and restraint. The wine is pure, concentrated and mineral. It's so impressive and elegant. 13% alcohol, sealed under Diam. Drink 2025 – 2039.”
2024 Alkina Estate Grenache – 94pts
“The 2024 Estate Grenache represents a varietal stepping stone in terms of price between the exceptionally good value for money Kin Grenache and the premium and rare Polygon Grenache. Enter the Estate Grenache. Here, on the nose, the wine is perfumed and fine, with rose petals, pomegranate and pressed flowers. This is incredibly mineral and super fine. What a super wine and a super vintage too. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam cork. Drink 2025 – 2034.”
2024 Alkina Estate Semillon – 93pts
“The 2024 Estate Semillon drinks like a Chardonnay and yet with a distinctly clothy, fine texture on the palate. It was barrel fermented and matured on the lees in seasoned French oak puncheons. There is an attractive honey, honeysuckle note on the middle palate and finish. This is fresh, too, and really good. 12% alcohol, sealed under Diam. Drink 2025 – 2034.”