Winemaker Notes
The Hickinbotham is more generous on the fruit depth than the neighboring Clarendon site (10 meters away on the south side of this hill) and luxurious in the mouth. It is typically dark cherried and juicy – and the light, fresh, herb overtone nuances create a stone fruit/dried apricot character. Juicy and fresh, this laser beam of focus is best consumed within its first ten years of life.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Syrah Hickinbotham has slightly muted aromas of mineral, underbrush, spice box, blackberry, and blueberry. On the palate it displays a stern personality with plenty of underlying structure and some austerity. It has excellent balance, depth, and length which will be fully exhibited in another 4-6 years.
-
Wine Spectator
Ripe and fresh-tasting, with beautifully focused blackberry, plum and white pepper flavors, picking up a meaty, corned beef note as the finish sails on against lightly prickly tannins.
-
Wine & Spirits
2007 Clarendon Hickinbotham Syrah The tannin comes first, but then the fruit comes on, with a fresh cranberry and floral blueberry flavor. This is dense, though not quite as heavy as some of the other '07s from Clarendon Hills. A toasty, black shiraz suited to several years of bottle age, and then to grilled lamb.
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.”
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.