Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet color with a touch of purple, the 2010 Shiraz opens with a fragrantly scented nose of dried mulberries, warm black plums and blackberry preserves with hints of sandalwood, Chinese five spice and potpourri. Medium-bodied with a good amount of evolving black fruit and baking spice flavors structured by a medium level of chewy tannins and crisp acid, it finishes with good length. Drink it now to 2017+.
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Wine & Spirits
Fresh, bright and open, this is a rich shiraz with meaty notes of game and forest floor. The tannins remain in the background, black and smoky, lasting with the fruit. Ready to drink now with roast game.
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Wine Spectator
Distinctive, with powdery tannins surrounding a savory range of meaty, tomato leaf—accented plum flavors, lingering well. Needs time for the tannins to soften. Best after 2016.
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.