Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Tappa Pass Shiraz blends fruit from Eden Valley and Barossa Valley, then ages it in 20% new French oak hogsheads, with the balance aged in used oak. Vanilla notes and dried spices add extra complexity to the dark berry fruit on the nose, while this creamy, full-bodied wine expands on the palate, delivering waves of lush blueberry and blackberry fruit balanced by savory overtones of tapenade and grilled beef. Those elements all come to a harmonious crescendo on the long, velvety finish.
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James Suckling
This shiraz for the Light Pass district of the Barossa Valley is ripe and rich with attractive blueberry and plum aromas, as well as lightly spicy, cedary notes. The palate has a smooth, ripe and very rich feel with bold blackberry and blueberry flavors, delivered amid glossy, long tannins.
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.”
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.