Winemaker Notes
This is a big wine yet remains elegant. There are layers of rich cherry and blackberry fruits, creamy vanilla notes, chocolate and even some pepper and spice. It has great intensity and a silkiness that lingers over the palate.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Very deep purple-black in color, the 100% Shiraz, single vineyard 2012 Carnival of Love exudes fragrant notes of warm blackberries, creme de cassis and dried mulberries intermingled with a lovely dried herb undercurrent, lavender, dark chocolate and anise. With a nice structure of medium to firm rounded tannins and a lively acid backbone, this very big, full and rich wine has a very long finish. Drink it now to 2025+.
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Wine Spectator
Sinewy, lithe and expressive, packing red berry, black cherry and cardamom aromas and flavors into a tightly focused package. The finish expands and powers up, driving a long and meaty finish. Displays muscle and poise. Drink now through 2022.
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.