Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
It’s a beautiful wine, with a base of red plums on the palate, dusted with mulling spices. Finishes with a flourish of clay and chalk.
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James Suckling
Exceptional vintage. The sage is right to the fore here with a slight meaty edge too, some iodine, some very savory herbal notes too, meaty and savory, lighter red fruits. The palate has fine, lithe and rich tannins that collect fruit flavor and drive through the finish with plenty of spice, red and dark fruit flavors, great depth and richness.
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Wine Spectator
A rambunctious wine, brimming with personality. Round and earthy, with a distinct barnyard note that cuts through the rich black cherry, blackberry and leathery, leafy, almost rustic flavors that persist on the finish.
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.”
Higher in elevation and topographically more dramatic than the Barossa Valley floor, Eden Valley abuts it to its south and east. While it is a bit of an extension of Barossa, Eden Valley is topographically different than the pastoral Barossa Valley, and is composed of rocky hills and eucalyptus groves.
Recognizing Eden Valley’s potential with Riesling in the 1960s and 70s, producers started to move their Riesling production from Barossa to these better sites where schist soils on hilltops would produce more steely, tart and age-worthy examples. A most famous site, planted by Colin Gramp, called Steingarten, today produces one of the most outstanding Australian Rieslings. Youthful Eden Valley Rieslings express floral, grapefruit and mineral, while with time in the bottle, they become increasingly toasty and complex.
Riesling isn’t the only grape the region can grow; undeniably at lower altitudes Shiraz does very well. Mount Edelstone is a notable vineyard as well as the Hill of Grace, which boasts healthy Shiraz vines well over 100 years old. This is the only Australian region where Merlot has a made a name for itself and Chardonnay can be spectacular, particularly from the High Eden subregion in the southern valley.