Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A really focused nose with deep black cherry and blackberry fruits in abundance, super pure, the oak adds bright spicy appeal. The palate ahs a sense of depth and focused concentration in a m id-weight frame that cuts to the core of Hunter shiraz, tannins are juicy and ripe, really sweeping, gathers pace and builds smoothly as it goes. Great wine. Best from 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is a succulent, supple and middle weight, elegantly styled wine. It has red fruit and minerality in abundance: raspberry leaf tea, aniseed, cocoa, pomegranate, raspberry and redcurrants. This is a beautiful wine, one of the great Graveyards. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
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Wine & Spirits
Three lawyers from Sydney established Brokenwood in 1970. When Tony Albert, John Beeston and James Halliday brought on additional investors in 1978, they were able to purchase the neighboring vineyard in Pokolbin, 15 acres of heavy clay soils that were once designated for a cemetery, but instead had been planted to shiraz and cabernet. Iain Riggs joined the team as winemaker in 1982 and released the first single-vineyard shiraz from the Graveyard Vineyard the following year. It quickly became one of Australia’s most collectible reds. The 2014 is a relatively light-bodied wine by contemporary Aussie standards, or perhaps it’s better to say compact, as the wine delivers spicy tannins with layers of herbal notes, from tobacco to mint and anise. A sleek and graceful shiraz.
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.”
Most admired for citrus-driven, mineral-rich and often age-worthy Semillon wines, Hunter Valley is one of Australia’s oldest wine regions and was home to its very first commercial vineyards. The region’s warm summer nights coupled with autumn cloud cover and cool sea breezes allow full ripening and healthy acidity levels for Semillon; its diverse soils of volcanic basalt and white alluvial sands promote the development of Semillon’s delicate aromas. Hunter Valley Semillons can certainly be enjoyed in their youth but with 10 to 20 years in the cellar, the best examples develop intriguing notes of honey, browned butter and roasted nuts.
Chardonnay and Shiraz also do well in Hunter Valley.