Winemaker Notes
Blend: 92% Shiraz, 8% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is decadent with iodine, blackberry and blueberry. Black licorice. Full body, with exotic and quartz character. A glorious young wine. Stone and sea salt character. Limestone.
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Wine Spectator
Distinctive and lively, with fresh-cracked black pepper, violet and dried apricot notes that jump out of the glass, balancing well with the blueberry and blackberry flavors at the core. Juicy, showing plenty of energy on the finish. Shiraz and Viognier. Drink now through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Descendant Shiraz Viognier seems to show its Viognier component, with notable peach blossom notes over the baked blackberries and stewed plums aromas and touches of dried herbs and chocolate box. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is relatively gripping, with chewy tannins supporting the straightforward flavors, finishing with an herbal lift.
Rating: 90+
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.”
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.