Winemaker Notes
Blend: 50% Grenache, 40% Shiraz, 10% Mourvedre
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This offers very attractive fresh red fruit, colored first and foremost with the raspberry of grenache, as well as some darker, shiraz blackberry notes. The palate has supple, fresh summer-berry flavors that hold bright on the finish. A blend of grenache, shiraz and mataro.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a lovely example of this classic Aussie blend from relatively cool Clare Valley climes. High-toned brambly berry aromas like blueberry and raspberry mingle with savory spice and floral notes. The palate is full-figured but shows restraint thanks to a lift of acidity and chiseled, supportive tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Supple and succulent, with juicy cherry and berry notes and details of spice, cedar, cigar box and black tea. Shows muscular tannins at the core that provide appealing traction to the flavors. Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro. Drink now
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
The Clare Valley is actually a series of narrow north to south valleys, each with a different soil type and slightly different weather patterns along their stretch. In the southern heartland between Watervale and Auburn, there is mainly a crumbled, red clay loam soil called terra rossa and cool breezes come in from Gulf St. Vincent. A few miles north, in Polish Hill, is soft, red loam over clay; westerlies blowing in from the Spencer Gulf influece this area's climate.
The differences in soil, elevation, degree of slope and weather enable the region to produce some of Australia’s finest, aromatic, spicy and lime-pithy Rieslings, as well as excellent Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec with ripe plummy fruit, good acid and big structure.
Clare Valley is an isolated farming country with a continental climate known for its warm and sunny days, followed by cool nights—perfect for wine grapes’ development of sugar and phenolic ripeness in conjunction with notable acidity levels.