Our Best Australian Shiraz

95 Points - Joe Czerwinski (erobertparker.com) "Sourced from Clare Valley, the 2016 Shiraz Heartbreak Hill Roach Road Hut is a terrific wine, not out of place at all among the Barossans in the Two Hands line-up. Loaded with raspberry fruit and dried spices, it’s full-bodied, supple and long, with fine-grained, silky tannins that caress the palate. Remarkable, given the vines are only 12-13 years old."

Jay Miller (robertparker.com) "The vintage was an excellent one, not quite as exceptional as 2005, but there may be cases in which selected 2006s may eventually outshine their 2005 counterparts. All of the 2006's fell within their predicted ranges (mostly near the high end) so I will keep my comments brief. Clarendon Hills 2006 Syrahs are superb. They appear to be less structured and more forward than the 2005's and will be more approachable early on." 

96 points - Stuart McCloskey “A more lavish feel to both the nose and fruit profile. Clearly, made for immediate enjoyment, but with the structure to age well for 8-10 years. That tell-tale warm red clay soil emanates from the glass, with oodles of plush, dark fruits. Ripe, sumptuous with touches of cassis, oak and espresso. The palate is equally friendly and greets you with a wash of crisp, ripe red & dark fruits. The tannins are impeccably balanced and work in harmony with the zap of acidity. There’s heaps to like about this wine as it’s so accessible, flavoursome and friendly. Another 12-24 months in bottle will do it a lot of good. I could even imagine this dunked in an ice bucket for ten minutes and served on a warm, summer evening. Just a joy.  Served in Zalto Bordeaux glassware.”

  International Wine & Spirits Competition Gold Medal 2019

97+/98+ Points - Stuart McCloskey “A pure bouquet of blackberry intermixed with warm, dry earth, musky herbs, menthol, graphite and pen ink. To be honest, you would run out of superlatives as the bouquet is endless and constantly changes with more aeration. The tannins are a touch chalky contrasted with magnificent layers of perfectly ripe, black fruits. Far from being heavy or clumsy – quite the contrary. A shrill of redcurrant on the entry followed by a wave of brooding, briary fruit laced with sweet spices falling to Provençal herbs and touches of menthol. The Mount Edelstone connection (one of Australia’s greatest single-vineyard wines) plays a significant role, but I wonder how much nature has shaped this wine? So natural and so effortless. A remarkable wine…Decanted for 4 hours and served using Zalto Bordeaux Glassware. Drink now or over the next decade and beyond.”

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97 Points - Stuart McCloskey “A thrilling, single vineyard Shiraz which has been meticulously crafted by the skilled hands of Craig Stansborough. The site is around 260-280m above sea level with vines planted in 2000 and is own rooted, clones are heritage and 1654. The nose is heady and aromatically perfumed with intense black raspberry, crème de cassis, bramble and fennel seed. The warm earth notes keep it grounded (forgive the pun!) as do the cedar notes. Vanilla kicks in after many hours in the decanter (we decanted for 6). Read more...

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Winemakers notes - "To create Shiraz Reserve, only the best vines in perfect balance, and the best bunches from those vines are harvested from two specific, low yielding sites (the 30 year old Original Vineyard at the winery, and the 26 year old Mt Pleasant Vineyard some 30km to the north. Applying gentle hand plunging ensuring extremely fine tannins, the wine is softly basket pressed into 100% new French oak barriques and was matured for 25 months resulting in an immensely structured, full bodied wine that will age gracefully for up to 20 years."

This vineyard was planted in 1995 on an old apricot orchard which we removed from our Roennfeldt Road property at Marananga near Greenock. The vines crop at 1.2 to 1.5 tonnes per acres from the short rows, and 1.5 to 2.0 tonnes per acre on the long rows. The grapes are picked and kept separate to produce a single estate wine. This rich, dark red wine has complex aromas of spice and fruit, plums, berries and a splash of dark chocolate with a lingering velvety finish.

  2021 Best Shiraz Wines - Wine Companion Awards

Decanter Magazine – Top 10 wineries in McLaren Vale

97 Points James Halliday "Block 6 is a 1.4ha east-facing block of 125yo vines with very complex soils. Hand-picked, crushed and destemmed, 11 days on skins, matured for 20 months in French and American puncheons (40% new). If ever there was an iron fist in a velvet glove this is it, but with one qualification: the iron fist was created by a master sculptor, the wine quite special, and fully deserving its price."

 Alan Cooper, Founder & Vigneron “Very much typical of our Syrah from a cooler year, aromatic on the nose, savoury spice and a fine dusting of black pepper to finish. The essence of granite. Focussed and expressive of our amazing terroir. The classic iron fist in a velvet glove. Huge latent power and structure to burn. This wine will reward you even more with age!”

Gourmet Traveller Wine 'Best buy wines over $30'  "It’s really hard not to think of the great syrahs of the northern Rhône (St-Joseph, Hermitage) when tasting this exceptional, nervy, peppery, thrillingly dark-fruited syrah. And even harder to ignore what great value it is in comparison to them."

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98+/99 Points Stuart McCloskey “Despite the huge reviews for the 2016, I personally prefer the 2017. In fact, I would declare all 2017 Standish wines superb and more to my liking. The 'The Standish' Shiraz is made from fruit farmed by the Laycock family in the Greenock sub-region of the Barossa Valley. Earlier releases from the now extinct Andelmonde and Borne Bollene came from this site – How wonderful would it be to see their return. Tell-tale Standish nose of pen ink, lead pencil, iron ore, graphite, warm earth, violets, dark plum and vanilla. Unbelievably harmonious for such a young wine – Seamless and graceful with satin-like tannins. The palate is sweet with black raspberry liquor, spice and offers a touch of relief with a core of crushed rocks. More and more notes build with time. It’s almost a life-long journey of an ever-changing scenery. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is another stunning wine from Dan Standish. Decanted for 4 hours and served using Zalto Bordeaux glassware.”

96 Points - Joe Czerwinski (RobertParker.com) "Lifted, herbal notes of mint, thyme and sage appear on the nose of the 2017 The Standish Shiraz. They're followed by waves of raspberries and more raspberries, fleshing out the full-bodied palate and lingering onto the long, silky finish, where they're joined by savory roasted-meat and espresso notes. While almost approachable now, a few years in the cellar surely wouldn't hurt."