Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Coming from a single vineyard planted in 1860, the 2006 1860 Vines Shiraz was aged in French oak hogheads, 30% new, for 26 months. Very deep garnet colored, it presents a complex, savory nose with notes of sandalwood, Ceylon tea and cigar boxes over cranberry tea, red currant preserves, kirsch, potpourri, anise and forest floor. Elegant and medium bodied in the mouth, it packs-in layers of flavors with crisp acid and firm, grainy tannins, finishing long and earthy. It makes a very good glass now though will reward cellaring, drinking to 2024+.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and focused, this is distinctive for its black olive-accented blackberry and roasted meat flavors, which ride almost delicately on a medium-weight frame. Balanced to last.
Though Syrah originated in the Rhône Valley of France, Australia is home to the oldest Syrah (called Shiraz here) vines on the planet. Found in Australia’s Barossa Valley, where phylloxera has never threated viticulture, these ancient vines are between 140 to 175 years old!
Having brought fame and merit to the country’s wine scene since the early 1950s, namely via the debut of Penfolds Grange, today Syrah (Shiraz) claims rank as the most widely planted grape in Australia. In fact, the amount of land dedicated to Shiraz in Australia is now almost equivalent to what it is in France. Australian Shiraz has its own personality with flavors and aromas of intense blackberry, fruitcake, menthol, tobacco leaf and umami. Conveniently one can find great Australian Shiraz at a variety of price points but the very best will be dense, gloriously complex and capable of long aging.