Winemaker Notes
The wine offers bold and expressive aromas with a lively mix of ripe fruits and exotic spices, characteristic of the cooler Eden Valley, while the palate is layered and concentrated, reflecting the contribution of Barossa Valley fruit, with flavors of dark fruits, licorice, and subtle cedar oak tannins building toward a long, persistent finish framed by grainy, fruit-derived tannins, making it an ideal pairing with medium-rare rump cap steak served with wilted bok choy and Swiss mushrooms.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A Rhone-inspired blend driven by old vine mataro. I love this. Mottled red cherry and eucalyptus aromas segue to a slippery, full-weighted palate laden with bracken, dried tobacco anise and hung game, the tannins grow in assertiveness with air. And yet there is nothing hard about this wine. It is cushy, poised and gorgeous to drink. The tannins are chewy, ferrous and nourishing. All in place.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Shiraz leads with a fruit-sweet nose of Black Forest Berries snacks, vanillin oak and cocoa. In the mouth, the wine has more weight, meat and game notes than the Bugalugs Shiraz tasted beside it—no surprise there—and this makes a relatively big impact. I actually preferred the levity of Bugalugs but cannot deny that this is a more serious, more complex and potentially more age-worthy wine. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
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.