Winemaker Notes
Whilst offering immense pleasure in its youth the 2016 Woodcutter’s Shiraz will certainly develop into an impressive wine with 7 - 10 years in the cellar. Another fantastic introduction to the Torbreck range.
The name Woodcutter's stems from when Torbreck founder David Powell spent several years working in the Scottish Highlands as a lumberjack or woodcutter in the Torbreck forest. Like all Torbreck wines it's sourced from hand harvested and hand tended, low yielding vines.
Style of Syrah:
This wine represents the jammy style of Syrah in our Wine Discovery Set.
Find more jammy Syrah.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This shows the greatness of the vintage with graphite, stone, oyster shell, blackberry, and licorice. Smoke undertone. Full body yet linear and energetic with a fabulous finish. A stunning wine. Great value for the quality. Drink now. Screw cap.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The vibrant purple 2016 Woodcutter's Shiraz delivers an affordable introduction to the Torbreck style, offering up fragrant notes of cracked pepper, hickory smoke, ripe blueberries and black olives. It's not overly concentrated but is flavorful and approachable, with a silky, savory finish.
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Wine Spectator
Apricot, plum and black cherry flavors are ripe and fleshy, with appealing accents of violet, black tea and white pepper. Juicy and vibrant, showing plenty of harmony on the finish. Drink now through 2028.
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.