Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Torbreck Descendant Shiraz is characterized by an intense, perfumed fruits with an underlying layer of lavender and spice. Dense dark cherry and blueberry fruit is perfectly interwoven with subtle nuances of white peach, spice and cinnamon. Full-bodied with great concentration, yet retaining soft supple tannins this suave wine has impeccable balance.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Distinctive and effusive, brimming with violet, white pepper, chai tea and peppermint oil notes, set on a dense frame, with thick tannins. Details of dark chocolate–covered coffee bean, cigar box and minerality gain momentum on the long, expressive finish. Shiraz and Viognier. Drink now through 2034.
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Vinous
Opaque ruby. Heady, oak-spiced aromas of dark berry preserves, espresso, incense and vanilla pick up a hint of olive with air. Stains the palate with concentrated cassis, bitter cherry and mocha flavors that turn sweeter and livelier through the mid-palate. Plays richness off of energy with a deft hand and finishes extremely long and spicy, with resonating blue fruit character and gently chewy tannins that come on late.
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Wine Enthusiast
Descendant comes in at nearly half the price of Torbreck's top wine, Runrig, and is actually a more characterful wine, full of earthy meaty funk that makes it less polished but overall more interesting than Runrig. Rich and extroverted, it leads with raspberry jam and roasted beet aromas along with spicy cedary oak, damp earth, mint and florals, thanks, perhaps to being crushed with Viognier skins. The palate displays quite a lot of spicy oak along with tight chalky tannins and loads of ripe fruit and secondary characters.
Cellar Selection
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.