Winemaker Notes
In making this Shiraz we carefully hand picked and dried the fruit on racks prior to crush in the ancient Italian method Appassimento, the key to the wine's distinctive nature. Matured for 27 months in new and seasoned French and American oak hogsheads, creating a complex wine of solid structure and velvet elegance.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Dark plum and blackberry flavors turn almost syrupy against fine tannins, with a swipe of black pepper that keeps the finish honest. Expressive and generous, this could develop even more with cellaring. Drink now through 2014.
Though Syrah originated in the Rhône Valley of France, Australia is home to the oldest Syrah (called Shiraz here) vines on the planet. Found in Australia’s Barossa Valley, where phylloxera has never threated viticulture, these ancient vines are between 140 to 175 years old!
Having brought fame and merit to the country’s wine scene since the early 1950s, namely via the debut of Penfolds Grange, today Syrah (Shiraz) claims rank as the most widely planted grape in Australia. In fact, the amount of land dedicated to Shiraz in Australia is now almost equivalent to what it is in France. Australian Shiraz has its own personality with flavors and aromas of intense blackberry, fruitcake, menthol, tobacco leaf and umami. Conveniently one can find great Australian Shiraz at a variety of price points but the very best will be dense, gloriously complex and capable of long aging.