Winemaker Notes
Giaconda produces some of Australia's most sought after wines. Their range of super-premium wines draw stylistic inspiration from traditional French winemaking techniques. Giaconda's humble beginning started in the early 1980's in Beechworth, North Eastern Victoria with a small 3-hectare (7.4 acres) vineyard and a 'low tech' winery crafted from hand made bricks and local granite. The first wine released was Cabernet Sauvignon in 1985 followed by Giaconda's Chardonnay in 1986. Since then, Giaconda's clutch of wines has risen to super cult status.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Shiraz "Warner Vineyard" spent 22 months in French oak, 60% new. Opaque purple-colored, it reveals an enticing perfume of pain grille, pepper, Asian spices, smoked meat, bacon, and blueberry. On the palate it is firm and slightly lean with good flavors and a long, pure finish. Drink it over the next 8-10 years.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and generous, with a lively zing of acidity to balance the generous blackberry and blueberry flavors, picking up some smoky notes on the long, generous finish. Drink now through 2011.
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.