Winemaker Notes
Luscious and concentrated fruit with deep and engaging layers of spice from the fruit and fine French oak. This all overlays across a bold and gravelly tannin structure. A frame that will yield suppleness in its longevity.
Blend: 98% Shiraz, 2% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is surprisingly soft and rounded; the 2019 Shiraz / Viognier is buffed and smooth, devoid of any hard edges in the mouth whatsoever. Initially, I attributed this to alcohol, but 14% is not raising any flags. The wine has a dark chocolate polish, emphasized by the core of plump, saturated fruit on the middle palate. Elegant and lovely. Very good.
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Wine Spectator
Fragrant and expressive but also firm and muscular, with juicy blueberry, blackberry and huckleberry flavors at the core, plus violet and chocolate-covered espresso bean notes that linger on the finish. Shiraz and Viognier. Drink now. 2,554 cases made, 484 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.”
As the most important area of wine production in Victoria today, the Yarra Valley is most popular for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which account for over half of vineyard acreage. A gentle, rolling and rural region alongside the Margaret River, the Yarra Valley has a cool maritime climate with a lengthy growing season, perfect for these cool-climate varieties.
Two styles of Pinot Noir are possible here. The warmer Lower Yarra Valley with sandy, loam soils, produces plush and fruity Pinot Noir while the cooler, higher-elevation Upper Yarra Valley with soils of young red basalt, produces more angular and mineral-driven Pinot Noir.
Yarra Valley Chardonnay is among the best in Australia. To preserve the floral aromatics and fresh citrus flavors for which this area’s Chardonnay is so appreciated, time in barrel is restrained (though barrel fermentation is common). The best Yarra Valley Chardonnays display brilliant acidity, leesy characteristics, citrus, stone fruit and flavors of ginger and spice.
Shiraz and Cabernet find success in parts of this region as well.