Description
Our flagship Shiraz Viognier. Only made in the very best years, using only the very best parcels of fruit. Our Reserve wines epitomise time, place and effort in the purest of forms. Our very best expression of variety, viticulture, location, season and winemaking.
This wine was barrel selected from our best blocks of Shiraz. This vintage embodies rich red and black fruits, gravelly tannin and a graphite, anise spice as well as blue fruit and an incredibly delicious, velvety palate. This release really strikes a wonderful balance of elegance with depth and structure.
Viticulture
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97% Shiraz, 3% Viognier
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2022
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Yarra Valley
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Tasting Notes
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Deep, dark ruby.
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Blackberry, blood plum, liquorice, five spice and polished leather.
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Dark cherries, sour plums and ripe raspberries shine bright. Soon after savoury elements begin to evolve; graphite, black olive, warm spices and oak toast. These build alongside a tannin profile that flows through velvet and velour arriving at a crescendo of balanced fruit, spice and texture which drive through the long finish.
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Drinking beautifully now but will also reward patient cellaring over the next 10+ years.
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Winemaking
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13.5%
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750ml
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3.55
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Professional Reviews
97
Co-fermented with 3% viognier and matured for 16 months in 35% new French barriques. A gorgeous crimson purple, this explodes from the glass with its alluring bouquet redolent of dark morello cherries, star anise, black peppercorns and crushed violets. Medium to full bodied, this has terrific depth, structure and persistence, and while approachable now, with food, patience will be, as they say, its own reward. A class act from beginning to end.
96
97% Shiraz and 3% Viognier. Matured in 26% new barrels for 18 months. This wine never fails to impress me. It allures with tulip, violet and inky purple florals. Then black cracked pepper and star anise spice waltz on in. A magenta hue of boysenberries, blueberries and black fig. Olive and rosemary, thyme and earthy beetroot relish. It’s angular in its granite like shape and shows it’s made of more than just edible things. With powdery tannins and driving acidity, this is spectacular now and will cellar well for another 10-12 years. Serve pepper crusted backstrap of lamb.
96
A deep, vibrant and opaque red in the glass. Heady aromas of blueberry, dried herbs, sweet spice, violets, sarsaparilla and nutty oak. Bright, lively, mouth-filling and exuberant in flavour. There’s a punchy drive of blueberry, spice and brambly exoticness. The tannins are shapely and the acidity delivers plenty of ping. A lovely example of cooler climate shiraz.
95
A structured and poised blend that is largely Shiraz and just 3% Viognier. It’s only a dollop but it is fundamental to the style, contributing to the firm tannins and lifted aromatics. Deeply concentrated with dark plum and chocolate merging with a little gingery spice. It is still quite firm through the core but it’s wrapped in ample flesh. A warm and generous wine.
95
A fragrant medium bodied red with expected floral lift and sweet spice elements, but the core program is forest berries, clove-cinnamon spice, dried green herbs and the near Italianate tannin profile that delivers piquancy and tight rails to the wine while extending its length. It feels distinguished by a sense of complexity and layers to this flavour and textural profile. Elegant too. Often special, and here again it is likewise so.
95
There’s something about the colour, its vibrancy, its deep purple potency, that immediately draws you in. Viognier might bring its powerful aromatics to this Shiraz partnership, but it also brings a real shimmery presence. From there, it’s a natural flow into a dark, spice-fuelled world. Lifted aromas of aromatic rose, violet, dark cherries and discreet woodsy spiced oak. The palate brings the perfect juxtaposition of savoury notes and deep fruited concentration dressed smartly in integrated oak and fine tannins. This is one sleek, super smart young Shiraz Viognier capable of extended time in the bottle.
94
The nose shows its viognier influence a little too keenly perhaps but the palate of this wine is excellent, wild with flavour, indeed buoyant with it, but seated with long chains of tannin and noticeably long through the finish. Plum and (fresh, mouthwatering ) red cherry flavours meet woodsy spice, musk, cream and cedar. It will take time to really blossom, such is its firmness, but all the components here are excellent.
Review
There’s only 3 per cent viognier in this Yarra Valley wine, bit it makes a world of difference. It’s immediately noticeable on the nose providing significant aromatic lift, and bringing added texture in the mouth. This is elegance and power wrapped together – really impressive. Flavour wise it’s very much on the dark-fruit spectrum – black cherry, plum and chocolate, all very smooth and polished, punctuated by flecks of raspberry that bring some red fruit brightness, and then warm spice. As a combination it’s a winner. The oak is toasty and understated, the tannins are fine and ripe, and the acid is lingering and supportive… but this is all about the fruit, as it should be. The wine is drinking beautifully now, but could be cellared for a decade. Treat yourself with this one or, with Christmas coming up, rest assured it would make a great present for the wine lover of the family. Really good drinking.
95
Polished aromas of blackberries, dark cherries, plums, violets and five spice. The palate is full-bodied with finely integrated tannins and bright acidity, giving notes of mulberries, mocha, licorice and cassia bark. Quite bold and structured, with a fresh, aromatic lift. Drink or hold.
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