Winemaker Notes
Deep crimson, red with a bright and vibrant core. Vibrant notes of blueberry pie and short crust pastry, vanilla, white chocolate, white pepper, and dried flowers. Blue fruited accents, with blueberry and plum reduction. Quite high toned and vibrant, yet the palate is broad and loose knit, providing a soft and cuddly fruit expression. Tannins start early and are also loose knit making the wine quite accessible in its youth. Oak is well woven in the wine providing notes of pie crust, vanilla bean and white chocolate.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
More reserved but no less brilliant, the 2017 Shiraz Lily's Garden comes from the McLaren Vale and spent 18 months in just 9% new French oak. Classic Syrah notes of dark black fruits, damp herbs, scorched earth, and obvious minerality give way to a medium to full-bodied beauty that is flawlessly balanced, textured, and seamless. It’s up with the finest vintages I’ve tasted of this cuvée and will keep for upwards of a decade.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Lily's Garden Shiraz is marked by ripe cherry fruit and herbal undertones. Hints of thyme and mint appear on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is creamy and ripe, turning silky on the finish. This is one of the few Garden series wines where the oak is evident, but it's still well blended with the rest of the wine, showing up as just a bit of additional structure.
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Wine Spectator
Intense wild berry and plum notes are accented by sage, bay leaf and brown sugar nuances, set on a thick and velvety frame. A detail of blood orange emerges on the finish. Drink now through 2029.
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.