Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 South West Rocks Shiraz is bloody and rocky, with cocoa and earth in the mouth. This is lean and firm and steely (a touch metallic) through the back palate. We walked through the vineyard, and the South West Rocks Vineyard is aptly named, with small and definitely not small (!) collections of ironstone, shale and slate (blue and red) strewn throughout the vineyard. It's a good-looking, rocky, slate-strewn vineyard. I like that. Black tea tannins define the finish.
Though Syrah originated in the Rhône Valley of France, Australia is home to the oldest Syrah (called Shiraz here) vines on the planet. Found in Australia’s Barossa Valley, where phylloxera has never threated viticulture, these ancient vines are between 140 to 175 years old!
Having brought fame and merit to the country’s wine scene since the early 1950s, namely via the debut of Penfolds Grange, today Syrah (Shiraz) claims rank as the most widely planted grape in Australia. In fact, the amount of land dedicated to Shiraz in Australia is now almost equivalent to what it is in France. Australian Shiraz has its own personality with flavors and aromas of intense blackberry, fruitcake, menthol, tobacco leaf and umami. Conveniently one can find great Australian Shiraz at a variety of price points but the very best will be dense, gloriously complex and capable of long aging.