Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Savory notes of sage and bay leaf are as forward on the nose as the plum and cherry notes. There’s a lick of vanillin oak showing, too. The abundance of tangy fruit continues its journey in the mouth, lingering on the finish amidst a powerful, well-placed frame of tannins.
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James Suckling
Good shiraz, strongly regional, aromatic and attractive. While I query the dryness of the tannins here, there is ample pleasure to be found behind a veneer of violets, purple pastilles, blue fruit, iodine and licorice. A little reduction creates tension without ever becoming too hard.
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.