Winemaker Notes
Deep brooding purple to black in color, this is an unctuous yet classic Barossa Valley Shiraz.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Starts off dense and concentrated, with wild blackberry, blueberry and cassis flavors that have an appealing chewy quality, but details of Assam tea, cardamom, loam and sandalwood emerge on the long finish.
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James Suckling
Fruity nose of baked cherries, ripe mulberries and blackcurrants. Some black licorice. Full-bodied with ripe tannins. Silky and lightly jammy.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This 2021 Gnarly Dudes Shiraz is aptly named, and shows the earthy side of the Barossa in the glass. The 2021 season was cool, and a welcome reprieve from the low-yielding, warm couple of vintages that preceded it. As such, this wine is a little slower to emerge from its shell and will really benefit from a further year in bottle. Smart, though.
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.