Winemaker Notes
Crimson with black cherry core. An alluring nose of red and black fruits such as dried red currant, black cherry and red plum. There's inviting secondary notes of Chinese five spice, charcuterie and white pepper. Soft and enveloping, the silky tannins provides a warm and supple mouthfeel offering excellent length and depth.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2024 Woodcutter's Shiraz is juicy and fruit-driven, despite being structurally endowed and shapely as well. In the mouth, the wine is sweet and abundant in both flavor and weight, yet it retains a freshness and inherent drinkability that has founded and maintained its reputation over time. This is an impressive wine and excellent value for money. It speaks of both place—Barossa Valley—and variety in equal measure. 15.4% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
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Wine Spectator
An effusive style, with a wild berry mix and touches of pomegranate and cranberry mingling with toasted green tea, bay leaf, smoked paprika and cumin accents. Green cardamom, fennel seed and clove notes emerge on the finish on a firm and juicy frame.
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.