Winemaker Notes
Wonderfully lifted aromatics, perfumed fresh black and red fruits complemented by spice and florals wafting from the glass. Blackcurrants, mulberry, cassis, and satsuma plum intertwine with pot-pourri, dried apricots, cloves and star anise. The palate shows the integration of dark Barossa fruits and second use RunRig French oak barriques balanced by trademark viscosity. A firm mouthfeel of fine grained tannins balanced by dense yet creamy like texture extolling the vineyard pedigree.
Pair with forest game, mushrooms or truffles.
Blend: 91% Shiraz, 9% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Gobsmacking. A raptor on nose and palate, locking on without hesitation. An insane iodine and black fruit perfume conjures up images of a dementedly talented parfumier going to work with the rarest musks and scents. The sense of heady Balkan tobacco alone is hypnotic. I have waited a long time for this wine to move from a ‘high-gold’ to perfection, and it happened in one fell swoop in 2020. Shiraz co-fermented with 9% Viognier.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Descendant is a Shiraz Viognier blend, co-fermented. This year, the 2020 Descendant comprises 91% Shiraz and 9% Viognier; the vineyard is in Marananga and was planted in 1994, from cuttings form the RunRig vineyard. It matured for 20 months in second fill French oak barriques, previously used for the RunRig. In every way (price, vineyard source, cepage, maturation), this wine is a baby RunRig, although there remain some stylistic differences in the mouth. For one thing, this 2020 Descendant has been matured (as mentioned) in older oak, so the imprint of oak flavors is more subtle. While there is no denying that the texture has an extreme slick and polish (it is almost thick in the mouth, truly plush) from the high percentage of Viognier, the wine is pure and glossy and exuberantly fruit driven. The tannins, which exist very much within the wine, are savory and exotically spiced: star anise, clove, hints of cardamom, licorice, red dirt and iodine. This is very good, luxurious, enveloping, sybaritic, with lots going on.
Rating:96+ -
James Suckling
Dried berries, smoke, mushrooms and ink on the nose. Medium- to full-bodied with a juicy and fruity character. Muscular and agile. Dancing. This is shiraz with a touch of viognier and no new wood. Co-fermented.
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Australian Wine Companion
A co-ferment of 91/9% shiraz/viognier from a single site in Marananga; matured 20 months in old Run Rig barrels. Super deep, magenta-splashed hue with aromas of macerated satsuma plums, mulberry and blueberry pie with a blast of Asian five-spice, violets, earth, stone fruit, tobacco and licorice. Pillowy tannins bloom from the pure fruit and for all the wine's latent horsepower, there is a sense of brightness, despite the plushness and fruit depth.
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Wine Spectator
Generous and spicy, with clove, cardamom and oregano accents to the huckleberry, boysenberry and wild blackberry flavors at the core. Reveals compact tannins that have appealing traction, but leave a velvety impression. Shiraz and Viognier. Drink now through 2029. 600 cases made, 125 cases imported.
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.