It might be worth laying this Shiraz down for six months or a year before giving it a go, because it's still pretty closed. Only light meat aromas emerge, and some graham cracker and fruit on the palate. Finishes juicy. Will emerge as the elegant complement to the winery's full-throttle grenache-based wines.

Best of the Year Issue Dec. 6, 2004

Plum, mineral and toffee notes mingle with toasted cumin and black tea accents. Thick and chewy on the finish. Appealing for the intensity and long finish.

Rich purple color. Nose boasts tart black cherries and currants, plums, lots of fruit but shows freshness too, and notes of black pepper glaze, violets, Turkish coffee and mint. Full-bodied, velvety tannins, moderating acidity, and plenty of juicy but tangy black and blue fruit (black cherry, cassis, blueberry). Notes of charcoal, coffee, vanilla, along with pepper, scorched earth and mint. Lots of depth and vibrancy in this wine — classic Yangarra style. All Shiraz, aged 13 months in ¼ new French oak.

This opaque and very dark ruby colored Shiraz from Yangarra opens with a smoky oak bouquet with hints of match stick and cherry. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, nicely balanced and smooth. The flavor profile is a tasty mild black cherry with notes of gentle blackberry. We also detected hints of minerality, black olive and cola. The finish is dry and its flavors and mild tannins linger nicely. The Panel suggest pairing this this Shiraz with homemade meatloaf or a mushroom burger.

This wine is both sweet (from super ripe grapes) and tangy with a taste that brought to my mind chocolate laced with balsamic vinegar (and I mean this in a good way). With its well-balanced rich fruit and oak flavors and medium weight body, this dark, garnet colored Shiraz is a winning wine for many different foods, including pasta, poultry and certainly any grilled meats, from sausage to steak.

Saturated ruby. Pungent, spice- and smoke-accented aromas of blackcurrant, cherry pit and pipe tobacco, with a peppery topnote adding vivacity. Fleshy and expansive on the palate, offering sweet black and blue fruit flavors and a touch of bitter chocolate. Finishes spicy and long, with fine-grained tannins and a jolt of cracked pepper.

Deep garnet colored, the 2008 Ironheart Shiraz presents a pronounced nose of warm blueberry compote, just starting to evolve into sandalwood, baking spice and anise elements with a hint of meatiness. Very full-bodied and concentrated with berry preserve, prune and spice characters, it has a medium level of velvety tannins, a crisp acid backbone and a long finish. Drink it now to 2020.

This wine wobbles along the line between superripe and overripe, at times seeming a bit raisiny, at others seeming just right. It's full-bodied, soft and expansive, with a lush, long finish, but drink it over the next few years.

Blackberry pie on the nose and palate. Juicy, full-bodied and layers.

Juicy and dense, ripe and showing blackberry and racy acidity; toasty, smooth and neatly balanced.

Ripe and distinctive for its gamy, spicy character, a fleshy Shiraz with fine tannins wrapped around the generous berry and licorice flavors at the core. Finishes long. Best from 2006 through 2010.

Yangarra is becoming synonymous with excellent wines at fair prices. Nose is a little hot at first, but later reveals pastry flour and black pepper aromas. Ripe red plums and vanilla accents unfold in the mouth. Not a huge, rich wine, but certainly a class one.

Kendall-Jackson's foray into OZ produces a fairly tannic, ripe and spicy shiraz that needs another year or two in the cellar. Cherry, blackberry, mocha and eucalypt aromas. Very ripe and creamy berry fruit matched by good acidity and tannic grip. Fairly complex and exhibiting impressive depth and structure.

South Australia: Part Two — Mostly McLaren Vale A blend of 58% Grenache, 24% Shiraz and 18% Mourvèdre, the 2016 GSM was fermented in open-top vats with indigenous yeasts and aged in older French oak for ten months. Like all the Yangarra wines, it will benefit from some aeration. Only then will the cherries come out to play with the black olive and sandalwood notes. It's medium to full-bodied, with a smooth, silky mouthfeel and a lingering finish. -

A blend of 68% Grenache, 26% Shiraz and 6% Mourvedre, the 2015 Grenache / Shiraz / Mourvedre sports a medium garnet-purple color and a nose of black cherry compote, red currant jelly and fertile soil with hints of Indian spices, black pepper and tar. Medium-bodied with a great intensity of earth and black berry flavors, the fruit is well-supported by rounded tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and peppery.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Mourvedre has a pronounced blackberry and blueberry preserves nose with suggestions of eucalyptus, fragrant earth and baker's chocolate. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a lot of vibrant fruit with an appealing spiciness coming through on the long, chewy finish.

Straight up confession; I am wary of wine that is heavily framed around process as it can often see actual wine quality shuffled back in the pecking order. Not so here. This is a tiny make of carignan (46%), roussanne (42%) and graciano (12%) all fermented in amphorae that contain some Yangarra clay. Pale red with a gently creamy foam, it smells of dried cranberries and goji berries, clear yeasty notes and some dried yellow rose and stone fruit perfume. It foams and fizzes smoothly on the palate, delivering a burst of raspberry and very gently sweet nectarine flavor, yeasty savory notes kick in and the finish has a neat phenolic stamp. Chill and drink fast and don't mind the red crystalline sediment, it's a natural by-product of the last phase of fermentation of grape sugars in the bottle, which is what gives the wine its light fizz.

Deep, dark red-purple hue and a meaty, pepper and spice aroma, loaded with character. The wine is intense and structured, with some fruit sweetness, and a certain animal note which is common in this grape. It's tightly focused and firm to finish.

A blend of 54% Grenache, 28% Shiraz,18% Mourvedre, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2012 GSM exudes a pretty perfume of red berry coulis and potpourri with hints of white pepper, cinnamon toast and violets. Medium to full-bodied with plenty of warm red berry flavors and complementary baking spice highlights, it is structured by medium level, rounded tannins and lively acid then finishes long. Drink it now to 2018+.

The 2010 Mourvedre has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and an earthy / meaty nose over a good core of ripe black fruits and a whiff of black olives. Full-bodied, rich and savory in the mouth, it has a medium to firm level of chewy tannins making for a more structured style, which the finish is long with some peppered notes coming through. Drink it now to 2017+.

Very spicy/savoury and with more grenache confection from the High Sands or Old Vine 100% grenache; however, the wine has length thanks to its tannins.

Bold, ripe and generous in flavor, aristocratic in structure, with delicious blueberry laced currant and plum flavors that remain round and appealing as they linger on and on. Beautifully structured, and it can grow in the cellar.

Kendall-Jackson's project in Australia has captured the austere richness of Coonawarra cabernet, here in a contrast of tight and firm structure filled by fruit that's gentle, almost lush. Ripe black cherry scents and cool blackberry jam in the middle turn toward blueberry in the end, lasting in that contrast with all the black tannin. Lean and correct, this should put on weight as it ages.