Tim Smith Barossa Shiraz 2018
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Anything up to 12 vineyards go into this wine: its typically a blend of ~50;50 Barossa and Eden Valley’s. The Barossa Valley provides the engine room for the palate, the Eden Valley components provide the lifted aromatics. Mostly French oak, and mostly 500 litre ‘puncheons’ to slow down the oak uptake and preserve aromatics.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of fruit from Barossa Valley and Eden Valley, Tim Smith's 2018 Shiraz spent 20 months in a mix of French and American hogsheads. It's spicy and cedary as a result, with hints of vanilla and maybe even a touch of dill, but those elements are dwarfed by the bushels of mixed red and black berry fruit. Medium to full-bodied, plush and creamy in style, it's immediately approachable yet possesses enough concentration and richness to age well for at least a decade.
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James Suckling
This has a very attractive, ripe set of red to dark berries, as well as gently spicy notes. The palate has a very intense and quite fluid feel with a big wall of ripe-blackberry flavor. Riper tannins here. Drink over the next five years. Screw cap.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a luscious, powerful Shiraz but one that finds drink ability amidst the juicy, silky fruit. Oodles of plum, cranberry and cassis fruit fill the nose, followed by mocha, violets, savory spice and a lick of polished oak (both French and American). The palate feels less cohesive, with gauzy, slightly astringent tannins. Nevertheless, this is a medium- to full-bodied Shiraz with plenty of curbside appeal.
Other Vintages
2021-
James
Suckling - Decanter
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Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
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James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator
He chose God’s-Own-Barossa as his home, on account of its dream combination of the right region and the right varieties. Within this region, old vine Mataro, Grenache, Shiraz and Riesling are found in small pockets, and Tim turns these ‘gardens’ into something special. A combination of age old varieties and clones, plus the myriad of soil structures and elevations within this famous region, makes it a winemakers’ playground.
All Tim Smith wines are made with small select parcels of high quality fruit and are made in small batches of 250-700 cases. The mantra for the brand is that if it does not bear the Tim Smith ‘Thumbprint’ then it is does not meet the quality standard.
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.”
The Barossa Zone encompasses the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley. Some of the oldest vines in Australia can be found here.
Barossa Valley of course is the most important and famous wine growing region in all of Australia where 140+ year-old, dry-farmed Shiraz vines still produce inky, purple and dense juice for some of Australia's best wines.
In the cooler, wetter Eden Valley sub-region, the Hill of Grace vineyard is home to famous Shiraz vines from the 1800s but the region produces also some of Australia’s very best and age-worthy Rieslings.