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: 97% Shiraz, 3% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This delightful wine is intensely spicy and peppery with a warm pavement mineral core. Strawberry-jam notes flow from the nose to mid-weight palate. The fruit feels bouncy and juicy on the tongue, framed in spicy tannins. Just a small amount of Viognier really lifts and brightens.
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James Suckling
A fine nose of lilac, rosewater, macerated red cherries, raspberry bon bons and orange rind. The mid-palate, full-weighted and expansive, yet a bit sweet. The sweetness pours across the bolshy finish, lacking the required structural attributes, flow or freshness, to rustle up another glass.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Shiraz Viognier is pretty and floral on the nose (no surprise there). It speaks of jasmine florals, red strawberries, blueberry skin and hints of clove/star anise. The tannins in the mouth are a little drying, but there is a nice flow of texture to shape the fruit.
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.