Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Australian Wine Companion
Magenta-edged crimson with oodles of unctuous macerated plum, blueberry, dark cherry and boysenberry fruits. Hints of baking spices, olive tapenade, dark chocolate, roasting meats, panforte and turned earth. Full bodied yet fresh in the mouth with sleek fruit, bright acidity and gentle pillowy tannins; fades slowly from view with ripe plummy fruit and an array of spice.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Gnarly Dudes Shiraz hails from Barossa and a wonderful season in 2022. This is concentrated and earthy but fresh, too, and the tannins that shape the fruit have a rose petal delicacy to them. This is really good, a giving wine—generous and satisfying.
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Wine Spectator
This red's bright, juicy mix of wild berry flavors mingles with its tight, firming core, with notes of cedar, spices and tobacco. Rosemary, sage and black tea flavors linger on the finish, where all the flavors are in harmony.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.