Winemaker Notes
Deep black with a red hue. Lifted notes of dusted sweets, chocolate, lavender and freshly cut herbs.
Good intensity with excellent ripe and vibrant red fruit flavors with hints of white pepper. A velvety smooth structured wine with soft approachable dry tannins. Brave Faces is an excellent food wine.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Shiraz (60%) – Grenache (40%) "Brave Faces" is slightly muted aromatically but notes of cedar, spice box, and blueberry make an appearance. This is followed by a medium to full-bodied wine with ample bright fruit focused on the Grenache component. Supple-textured, and well-balanced, the wine is slightly compact in the finish.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
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.