Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Complex and aromatic, with spice, fresh earth, cream soda and black walnut flavors that are rich and polished, giving way to succulent plum and cassis elements. Black pepper and Earl Grey tea grace notes linger effortlessly on the finish.
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Australian Wine Companion
Matured mostly in French oak, 20% new. It's a sweet and generous red with satiny texture and a warm burst to the finish. The mid palate is a river of berried flavour and while there's coffee-cream oak at play too it's that warm flow of fruit that really wins the day. It will be a touch too sweet and warm for some; it will be nectar to others.
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Wine Enthusiast
This historic Hunter Valley winery also owns vineyards further afield, and this Shiraz is from Heathcote in Central Victoria, though it still wears the Tyrrell's crown. After a little swirling in the glass, it unveils aromas of plump blueberry, plum, mocha, licorice and florals. Medium to full bodied, it offers an intricate play between texture and acidity, juicy fruit and taut, sandy tannins, hinting at stony minerality. There's an old-fashioned feel about this wine. It's comfortable in its own skin and doesn't try too hard to be modern.
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 some of Australia’s most lucrative gold country, today Heathcote maintains its esteemed reputation as a source of country’s best red wines. The rolling countryside of ancient reddish brown soils bordered by mountain ranges that funnel cool air into the region during the growing season create some of Australia’s most deeply-hued and impressively layered Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines.