Winemaker Notes
Vegan
2017 was a cooler year in McLaren Vale. The carryover from the 2016 rains into a perfect spring and then a cooler ripening season led to good fruit character for Shiraz and Grenache expressing in an elegant and lively style. The 2017 Shiraz has an elegant and balanced form, with round blackberry and black pepper notes on a lithe and supple frame.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Thanks in part to the relatively cool year, this is a wine that manages refinement, restraint and beautiful expression of place. The nose is a neatly woven basket of aromas: crushed flowers, red and blue fruit, pepper, mint and cigar box. The palate is full figured and highly textural. There’s a line of powdery, spicy, ultrafine tannins and a streak of high-end oak. Set up for a long and beautiful life, Drink from 2022–2045
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James Suckling
Dark plums and spice with toasty oak on offer, leading to a plush, fluid and rich texture, as well as a very fleshy and fresh, compact feel at the finish. Dark berries and cherries and a sleek, assertive tannin edge complete the picture. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Offers polished notes of toffee, baking spices, tobacco and cedar, featuring a core of plush, plump plum, kirsch and blackberry flavors that are succulent, juicy and polished. Shows seamless integration on the finish, with a chorus of flavors and velvety tannins. Drink now through 2035.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The product of a cool vintage, Hickinbotham's 2017 Brooks Road Shiraz is a tart, intense offering. Scents of mixed berries and pastry crust mark the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is tight and taut, juicy but a bit ungenerous. The finish suggests more potential, offering mouthwatering acidity and fine-grained tannins. I'd suggest holding this for at least another year, giving it time to relax a bit and reach its potential. Rating: 91+
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.