Winemaker Notes
Plush and velvety, with cascades of dark cherry plum and sweetly spicy fruit. The ripe but fine tannins give texture, sustaining length and a superb ability to age.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Bang for buck abounds in this top-notch, cool-climate Shiraz with a weeknight price tag. It smells like a Mediterranean herb garden in a thicket of black currant bushes, bay trees and eucalypts. The palate is juicy, fresh and approachable but with richness and concentration, fine tannins and a silky texture. Drink now with a lamb roast, ratatouille or herby, grilled root vegetables.
Best Buy
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.”
Nestled into the tip of its southeastern coastline, Victoria is Australia’s smallest mainland state, second most populous and third largest wine producer. Victoria includes the cool regions of Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Geelong, made famous mainly by impressive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The more inland Heathcote and Bendigo lead the way for complex and textured, full-bodied reds. Rutherglen’s fortified wines compete among the best on the planet.