Winemaker Notes
Decant and enjoy with slow-cooked lamb shoulder.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
So beautiful and polished with extremely soft and tender tannins that give form to this ripe and enticing shiraz. Plums and wet earth, as well as dusty and grilled-meat undertones.
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Decanter
Lovers of Côte-Rôtie will find plenty to enjoy here: generous, complex and layered aromas and flavours that run the gamut of bacon fat, chocolate, mulberry, raspberry, black pepper and anise to lifted violets and even tropical mango tones. At once massive yet poised, with a silky textured palate, well-integrated oak and lovely acid balance.
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Wine & Spirits
Think intense and fragrant black-fruited pinot and you’ll be close to the vinous character of this shiraz. Shaw + Smith is the collaboration started in 1989 between cousins Michael Hill Smith, MW and Martin Shaw, now including 136 acres of vines in the cool reaches of the Adelaide Hills. Shaw combines whole berries and whole bunches in his open-top fermenters, aging the wine in French oak barrels, one-third new. The concentration of the fruit stands up to that oak, so you feel the power instead in the sensation of grape-skin tannins, firm, juicy and fragrant themselves. If you tend to prefer Old World wines, consider this New World red for its elegance. And if you love great Aussie shiraz, don’t miss it.
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Wine Enthusiast
From the relatively cool climes of Adelaide Hills, this polished, perfumed Shiraz is a heady combo of dried rose petals, red and black berries, cedar shavings and a myriad dried herbs and spices. There’s a good lick of oak influence here, too. The palate shows a touch of heat from the alcohol, but overall it’s medium in weight and made with restraint. There’s a lovely, silky texture to the fruit and a savory nuance on the finish.
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.”
A narrow band of hills and valleys east of the city of Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills region is a diverse landscape featuring a variety of microclimates. In general it is moderate with high-altitude areas cooler and wetter compared to its warmer, lower areas.
Piccadilly Valley, the part of Adelaide Hills closest to the city, was first staked out by a grower named Brian Croser, in the 1970s for a cool spot to grow Chardonnay, then uncommon in Australia. Today a good amount of the Chardonnay goes to winemakers outside of the region.
Producers here experiment with other cool-climate loving aromatic varieties like Pinot Gris, Viognier and Riesling. Charming sparkling wine is also possible. On its north side, lower, west-facing slopes make full-bodied Shiraz.