Winemaker Notes
Royal Oaks of the King's Wood were forests planted by monarchs to build elegant cathedrals and church naves. The beautiful old French oak in Yangarra's foudre vessels helps make this elegant wine by gradually polishing and protecting the brightest, spiciest south-facing Shiraz they grow.
Professional Ratings
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Australian Wine Companion
I like this. A wine that embraces a more medium-bodied, compact and restrained archetype, defined by spicy lithe grape tannins as much as McLaren Vale fruit. A southeast-facing site of ironstone. Green olive tapenade, clove, pepper grind and salumi mingle with succulent red cherry, mescal and blue fruit allusions. The tannins, a spindle of spicy, pithy chewiness, attenuated and polymerised by gentle agitation in the right oak (French foudres for 16 months). A strong regional statement. A benchmark, too, for those seeking savouriness over mere amplitude and ripeness. An exercise in fine tannin management.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Luscious fruit defines this 2020 King's Wood Shiraz, but it morphs through the middle palate with shades of meat, red licorice, dark chocolate and mulberry—it’s very sweet in character. There is blackberry, raspberry and licorice on the nose, however on day two it feels much softer and lighter, with deli meat, star anise, clove bud, green tea and layers of red apple, eucalypt and crushed granite. Kind of a loose, sandy disposition. Really impressive. Dappled and beautiful.
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Decanter
Introducing 20% whole bunch into the ferment lifts the perfume and brightness of the clean, lean palate, but the real interest here is the svelte tannin profile. It transforms the expected traditional burly Australian Shiraz structure into a something more surprising, supple and elegant. The slender palate weight ensures that the fresh red fruits remain lively and especially vibrant.
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Wine Spectator
Full-bodied and firm, with good intensity to the blueberry and blackberry flavors at the core, with dried herbs, black pepper, loam and savory green olive and tobacco details. Drink now through 2030. 800 cases made, 200 cases imported.
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.