Winemaker Notes
Aroma: The nose shows great intensity filled with plum, mocha and aniseed and secondary notes of clove and mixed spice.
Palate: A dense lush mouthfeel with sweet oozy fruit. Fruit driven with well balanced velvety tannins, sweet dark plums encased in a rich mocha chocolate, supported by subtle vanillan oak.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Shows some subtlety, sliding its juicy blackberry and plum fruit through a veil of fine-grained tannins, with pepper and mineral overtones. Has a deft sense of harmony and balance. Best from 2010 through 2016.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Shiraz Lily’s Garden comes from McLaren Vale. It reveals a complex aromatic array including balsam wood, spice box, violets, earth notes, pepper, blueberry, and blackberry. Layered and rich, it conceals enough ripe tannin to evolve for another 2-3 years. It has outstanding grip, depth, and a lengthy, pure finish. Drink it from 2011 to 2022.
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.