Winemaker Notes
Deep dark red color with a bright garnet hue. The 2015 Secret Block Shiraz shows notes of plum skin, blackberry, olive pit, spice market and dried French lavender with light underlying notes of Pain grille.
The wine enters the palate with poise and elegance, but then rolls and cascades across the palate with both power and grace. Notes of blackberry skins with exotic spice market, black olive and dried lavender flavours are incredibly deep and layered. Tannins are very regal and run long across the palate. The finish goes on and on offering both power and elegance.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Concentrated and powerful, plump and velvety, with rich gingerbread and black walnut overtones to the core of dark fruit flavors. A whiff of briny black olive lends a savory side. Shows plenty of power on the long finish. Drink now through 2030.
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.