Winemaker Notes
The color is a beautiful black with deep magenta hues.
On the nose, coming from a very good year, upon release this wine is very restrained and elegant. Spicy red fruits, subtle char and pepper with underlying charcuterie, grilled meats and soft mocha and vanillin.
A burst of juicy red fruits on the early palate that remains throughout. As the fruit builds the mocha notes become more prevalent and finally the firm but fine tannins kick in and hold the palate together, balanced with subtle vanillin oak.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Big, bold and expressive, with some unexpected transparency to the black cherry, raspberry, red plum and Asian spice aromas and flavors, lingering on the open-textured finish. The aftertaste just keeps coming. Drink now through 2015. 6,300 cases made.
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.”
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.