Winemaker Notes
Shaw + Smith Shiraz is a medium bodied cool-climate Shiraz, in which balance is more important than power. The 2019 vintage exhibits balance and elegance, with concentrated red and blue fruit, perfumed aromatics and great flow on the palate.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Beware the siren with the ruby-red lips. In a smoky room, here she strides – confident, cool, arresting. Slender, stalky cherry and a smear of blackcurrant bite, spiked with crushed peppercorns. No sunny smiles here, this is deadly serious. Leaner, finer and taut, it marks a big stride ahead from previous vintages. This vision of cool-climate Shiraz marks a new age of measured sophistication.
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James Suckling
A super-ripe dark-plum and blackberry nose with pepper and spice aromas, together with some smoky and graphite-like elements. Plenty of complexity. So fleshy and deep with a smooth tannin texture and dark plums and blackberries sitting fresh into the finish. Rich, sweet red-fruit tones to close. Drink over the next eight years.
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Australian Wine Companion
Sourced from 3 sites, a mix of whole berries and bunches, matured for 14 months in a third new oak. There's an alluring mix of fruit and flint in the aromatics, offering an early hint of the balanced earthiness and plum-fruit flavours sitting very comfortably together across the whole length of the palate. Fine, white peppery notes from the tannins add a savoury element on the finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
The Shiraz from this well-known Adelaide Hills estate screams cool climate via its evocative autumnal vibe on the nose. It’s sappy and earthy with brambly red berries, plums, savory herbs and peppery spice. The plate is less vibrant, with slightly pinched acidity and taut, austere tannins, but overall this medium-weight Shiraz should knit together nicely with another few years in bottle and until around 2030.
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.