Winemaker Notes
This Shiraz is full flavored with juicy dark red berries, hints of spice, earth, tar and leather, with seamlessly integrated oak. Mouth coating tannins are apparent but not overwhelming, meaning this is a wine which can be enjoyed now or in the next 15 years.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The fruit for the 2019 J.F.R. Shiraz was sourced from three vineyards within McLaren Vale: Piebald Gully, Gateway and Martins. It matured for 20 months in a combination of French and American oak (30% new French, 5% new American). This is concentrated, bloody and mineral, with a profusion of red fruits and pink peppercorns on the mid-palate. There is plenty of plump and pleasure here, now and into the future.
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James Suckling
Fresh blackberries, bramble, dried rosemary, licorice and cloves on the nose. Creamy and full-bodied with a velvety tannin frame. Excellent integration of fruit and spice. Drink from 2023.
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.