2021 First Drop Mother's Milk Shiraz Barossa 750 ml

The wines on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list don’t get there on objective quality alone. They also have to combine personality and price in a way that lights up some of the most experienced wine critics in the world. 

That’s exactly what First Drop’s Mother’s Milk Shiraz did. Two years in a row. 

First Drop founder John Restas has quipped that he borrowed his vinicultural philosophy from his old boss, the late legend of Australian wine, Bob McLean: “We’re making 750ml of fun” he says, and he manages to combine uncommonly thoughtful winemaking with packaging and pricing that makes it easy to open a bottle on a whim.

True to expectation, a visit to the First Drop winery feels more like dropping in on an impromptu dinner party than doing business. Holding forth in his thick South Australian accent, John hands out homemade salami one moment and passes around a wine-thief fresh from the barrel the next.

But that party atmosphere belies some serious winemaking acumen. The 2021 Mother’s Milk is sourced from three outstanding vineyards in the Barossa Valley: One is in the western part of the region, not far north of legendary Seppeltsfield. The second is in the northern section of Barossa, at higher elevation, and a third is in cooler Eden Valley. All three boast different soils—limestone-heavy clay to sand and ironstone to and ironstone and quartz—and the combination allows Restas to blend a single wine that captures the magic of Australia’s premier growing region.