Winemaker Notes
It is generous and supple whilst soft and approachable upon release. An ultra-rich, heady, mouth-filling Shiraz that combines balanced acidity and mid-palate texture.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even bigger than the Greenock Block, but revealing more complexity as well as elegance is the stunning 2002 Shiraz Coach House, which sees 10% new American oak. Aromas and flavors of blackberries, plums, figs, creme de cassis, graphite, smoky new oak, bacon fat, and prunes are present in this dense, full-bodied effort. Monstrous in the mouth, with no hard edges, this is the type of wine that seemingly only Australia is capable of producing. Drink it over the next 10-15+ years.
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Wine Spectator
Dark, dense and brooding, a powerful mix of tarry, smoky, spicy notes around a solid core of black cherry and plum flavors, finishing with great length and firm tannins. This has all the elements; give it time to settle in.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas are broad and profound, with very ripe fruit, and pretty biscuit and black pepper accents. The palate? Cassis, pepper, plum and meat. Firm in the mouth, with fine tannins, and its flavors grow darker—olive, earth, pepper—through the long finish. Has substance, class, restraint and perhaps best of all, holding power. Sexy as all get-out now, but we'll probably say the same thing in 2015.
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.