Winemaker Notes
Deep crimson with purple hues. A rich bouquet of red and blue fruits, herbs and cedar, entwine with hints of sage, roasty and savory notes. Rich and juicy raspberry and Satsuma plum fill the mouth, with allspice sweetness adding to the mouthfeel. The fruit is well balanced with hints of briary spice and textural, fine-grained tannins on the lengthy finish.
Ideal companions to this wine are rabbit stifado, pork or duck roast, mushroom risotto, roasted vegetable tartlet, and matured cheese platter.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
These old vines were relocated and now deliver this rich, composed and seamless shiraz that has ripe blackberry and plum aromas and flavors with supple, smooth-honed tannins that sit fresh and smoothly refined. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The full-bodied 2017 Orphan Bank Shiraz isn't quite as plush and forward as the 2018, but it remains a super Shiraz, boasting expressive notes of roasted meat and ripe boysenberries, wrapped in a gentle wreath of wild herbs. The structure is a bit too acid-dependent this vintage, so drink it over the near term, while the fruit is still youthfully bold.
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.