From bush vines planted '46 at Blewitt Springs, cold soak, open-fermented with 50% whole berries, wild yeast, matured in used French oak for 9 months. Lightish colour is misleading: the wine has a cascade of red fruits, with a slightly unexpected brush fence of ripe tannins, important now as much as in the future when they will fuse back into the wine.
Rich comfy date and figgy smelling with a touch of walnut and wafts of cherry wood. And this is how it tastes: there’s a lustiness and swagger. And ferrous sweet-soy tastes. Another couple of years will bring on more.
An extraordinary wine; silky and rich with racy, jammy, spicy blackberry and blueberry fruit; pure, intense acidity and elegant flavors.
Single block shiraz. 25% whole bunches, the remainder berry sorted. Cold soak, open fermenters, spontaneous ferment, no pressings, all matured in 25hL foudre. Certified organic/biodynamic. It’s structured and fine but apart from anything else, it’s delicious. It’s a joy to drink. Jellied boysenberry, plum, red/black cherry, graphite and clove notes come gently infused with cedarwood oak. Freshness is paramount. So too finesse. So too fine bones of tannin. Indeed this wine has quality written all over it. This medium-bodied red should be on your shopping list.
This is an utterly mesmerising and compelling shiraz. Divine, concentrated dark fruit with very gentle spice. Classically-structured and not overdone in any way. Lively acidity and plentiful integrated tannin. An absolute steal at this price. Fabulous.
Damn this is a superb Shiraz. The richness and density just pull you in. The asking price has gone up $5 from the 2016 release but just pay it. There's plenty of Shiraz wines for $50 that wouldn't come close to what is on offer here. A fifth of the ferment was made with 25% whole bunches. Wild yeast fermented, it saw 25% new French oak for 16 months. Certified organic and biodynamic. As with the 2016, purple and blue fruit aromas reign supreme. Some cedar and dark chocolate are evident too. It's lush to taste. Dark plums are joined by blueberries and mulberries all roaming about consuming the mouth with silky feels. Savoury notes sit in the background courtesy of the whole bunches with brick dust tannins to finish. Superb drinking really.
WBM Wines of the Year 2018 – the best of the best, 95 points and above
Ironheart is of course a later edition to the Marvel Universe, a female character not far off the Iron Man idiom. And this is estate shiraz from Yangarra in McLaren Vale. Lovely wine this. Straight up impressive. Sandy swish of tannins is the lingering thought, but there’s dark berry-cherry perfume, ripe of course, but shy of over done, sniffs of old spice cupboard, succulence writ large. It’s long, fine and elegant in its way, but doesn’t forget the earthy, regional grunt of the region. Just enough of everything, plus an individual personality, and the wine feels gently done. Again, a lovely wine.
Biggest Australian Wine Tasting Ever: 2,700+ Ratings This has a very impressive array of ripe, rich dark plums and black cherries with a very intense and assertive palate that marries powdery, cocoa-infused tannins, as well as density at the finish with an air of precision. Certified organic. Drink or hold. Screw cap.
A highly captivating wine with perfect balance between the sweet and the savoury. Sourced from established vines, ranging in age from 19 to 23 years, it is a shiraz with excellent fruit depth. There is a snappy character to the fruit on the front palate followed by impressive back palate concentration and length. Although it can be enjoyed now, it will be even better with time in the cellar. A sophisticated, finely-crafted wine. Highly recommended.
A great Shiraz - I just want more. The generous fruit and super smooth feels ensuring this is a luxurious ride to happiness. Made with approximately 10% whole bunches, the remaining fruit was destemmed. 50% whole berries. Wild yeast fermentation in 25% new French oak for 12 months. Certified organic and biodynamic. Purple fruit is laced with whiffs of toffee and kicks of earth. Minerality evident through the mouth with dense plums and mulberries filling every cranny. Fine spices bind it all in a neat parcel finishing long and proud. Damn, it's good and brilliant value for $30! Drink now to ten years.
Hand picked (organically-grown) grapes. 25% whole bunches. Cold soaked, open fermented, wild yeast, 48% new French oak for 15 months. Brilliant wine. Its quality impresses from the outset. Full-bodied but polite about it. Blackberry, plum, a jellied sweetness, a full serve of cedarwood oak, florals, peppercorns. Pretty in part, gutsy in other, svelte. Tannin rolls and rumbles from the mid-palate onwards but it comes flooded with flavour. Generous and joyous.
Why Australian Wine is Some of the Most Exciting in the World Dark plums and some lighter redder fruits, as well as spicy, earthy and tarry elements. The palate has a seamless, deep-set and layered mouthfeel with a strong and fresh spine of dark plums.
Yangarra Goes Even Higher: Four Outstanding Super Premium Releases My favourite wine of the range and just a perfectly formed McLaren Vale Shiraz. From Block 15, this was handpicked, with 25% whole bunches and matured in 48% new oak, the finished wine then an individual barrel selection. Numbers: TA 6.3, pH 3.43. It’s such a bright and exuberant red, loaded with purple fruit in a lavish mode. Energetically fruity, but with this sense of savouriness too, the oak an afterthought, the tannins fine and perfectly balanced. It’s not a heavyweight, it’s not oaky, it’s just a really vital Shiraz. The sort of wine that you just drink and marvel at the balance at every sip. Best drinking: Now to twenty years. 18.7/20, 95/100. 14.5%, $105. Would I buy it? A lot of dollars but also a lot of wine. Worth the money.
Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Small Pot Whole Bunch Shiraz offers youthfully subdued peeks of fragrant blackberry and black cherry aromas with hints of black pepper, loam, dried herbs and lavender. The palate is rock solid and packed with blackberry and earth flavors supported by firm, rounded tannins and great freshness, finishing long.
Take Note: Real Australian Wine Is Here Sexy red with meat, earth, blackberry and quartz aromas that follow through to a full body, round and velvety tannins and a juicy finish. Loads going on here. Love it. Drink now. Screw cap.
Estate-grown, 50% whole berries, 25% whole bunches cold soaked, open-fermented, wild yeast, matured in French oak (25% new) for 13 months. Everything falls into place, the design of the jigsaw puzzle taking shape post haste. McLaren Vale fruit essence, with black fruits and potent dark chocolate looking as much to the sky as the earth, the whole bunch elements adding a twist to the main design, eloquent tannins also making a significant contribution.
Very deep, dark red-purple hue and a tremendously concentrated aroma of graphite, pepper, spices and earth. It's very full-bodied and dense, concentrated and firm with tight tannins and relatively little fruit sweetness. Instead, there's amazing structure. The whole-bunch component gives a vegetal note to the complex bouquet. A very big, muscular, powerful wine which needs ages.
Welcome, we hope you enjoy the show. Twist the cap and it's as if the words tumble out. Immediately perfumed and expressive but with the grunt of tannin and fruit to give it real substance. Saturated plum, soy, five spice and smoky, musky oak. The very epitome of a modern major general release shiraz.
Magical, deep crimson; as devotees of Chateau Rayas, and others from the Rhone Valley will attest, Grenache has many faces, the most admired in that part of France, it’s serious, long-lived, complex and structured single-varietal pose. But it’s usually in a blend, and in Australia usually with shiraz and Mourvedre, and this a compelling example of all the individual flavours of its components.
This one of my favourite wines in the country. It seems to hit that magical place where it is neither sweet-fruited nor savoury but instead sits somewhere gloriously in between. It is a hard wine to dissect as it is so well-balanced. I love the texture, the palate weight and the inherent brightness. Flecks of lime, fresh cream and faint fruit juiciness tied together by savouriness.
A seductive wine that just oozes charm. Coming off 14 year old vines, 50% of fruit was wild fermented in 675L ceramic eggs remaining on skins for 131 days. The final blend saw 67% come from extended skin contact. Such a generous offering yet it's so luscious. Almonds, delicate stonefruit, fine ginger and cinnamon spice all weave a neat course through the mouth. Creamy feels through the mouth form the baseline with flashes of candied orange and drops of lime juice adding to the temptation. Beautifully balanced, it's just pure class really.
If you love creamy whites, here’s a long, slow rolling wave of sensational flavors. Beautiful freshness and lushness simultaneously, plus a texture so silky it feels a bit illegal. Roussanne is rare in Australia, but this might be the best roussanne in the entire New World.
Complexity, balance and straight-out power; this release of Yangarra's Small Pot Shiraz has it all. I'm sold on this. Second time I've seen it and second time I've loved it. It has all things McLaren Vale Shiraz is renowned for - powerful, blackberried fruit flavour, choc notes, lots of mid-palate grunt - and yet it also comes across as restrained, peppery, balanced and (most importantly) long through the finish. All things to all people, in an uncompromised way.
Strong purple-crimson, it's a technique more common in cool regions but works very well here, with regional bitter chocolate and savoury black fruit flavours lifted by the spicy notes and extra texture from the use of whole bunches. Sophisticated winemaking.