A merlot with a ripe, sweet mouth-feel. Layers of red and black fruit. Notes of mint and eucalyptus. Long finish.

5 Australian red wines bursting with youthful vitality, just in time for summer This is the sixth vintage of a preservative-free red from Yangarra, and it's an absolute cracker: lots of slurpy dark fruit, fine silky tannins. It was made from certified biodynamically grown grapes, so make sure you pair it with some fine biodynamically farmed lamb – preferably skewered on rosemary twigs and grilled over charcoal.

Yangarra Estate Vineyard 2017 McLaren Vale ORGANIC/BIO-DYNAMIC 'KINGS WOOD' #SHIRAZ - made with wild yeast + open fermenter, bright lively aromas of plums & herbs with a hint of spice, smooth rich- ever so tasty palate with masses of flavour & a tight, grippy, lingering finish. A great wine now or wait a while for it to round out some more and become TRULY SUPERB!

Undiscovered Melbourne still surprises and delights My favourite course? Okay, if I’m forced to choose, then the Cape Grim beef from north-western Tasmania, served with mushrooms, charred baby onions, dried lactose and a glass of concentrated Yangarra PF 2017 Shiraz from South Australia’s McLaren Vale.

Then there is the 2017 SHIRAZ which has big, blousy aromas of plums, red berries and a smidge of dried herbs. It has a gorgeous mouthful of ripe flavours, great balance with just the right amount of tannins and acid, with a lingering finish. This is not a Barossa style blockbuster Shiraz, it is sophisticated and svelte – A bloody gorgeous contemporary Shiraz!

A Toast to Earth Day - The Biodynamic Wines of Yangarra The perfect wine to toast Earth Day, this wine is made without chemical additives. Preservative Free(PF), and no additions of any kind: sulfur, acid, tannins or fining agents. The PF Shiraz is made from grapes grown on certified biodynamic single-estate vineyard, grown without herbicides, fungicides or synthetic chemicals. It’s medium bodied, fresh, fruit driven wine that is delicious enjoyed as a young wine.

The "PF" is for "preservative free," and, far from oxidized, this burly Shiraz, coming to us from Down Under by way of Jackson Family Wines, shows signs of "reduction," which is basically the opposite of oxidized. Just a touch of reduction, however, accents the savor of liquefied dried plum with gamey, chocolatey notes. Not fined or filtered, it leaves a chunky residue of organic material in the bottom of the last glass—and a pretty favorable memory of the category, as well. Four stars.

Yangarra Estate Vineyard 2016 McLaren Vale 'IRONHEART' #SHIRAZ - BIO-DYNAMIC made in open fermenters with wild yeast & 35% new oak. Almost inky black in colour. Big bright aromas, divine complex flavours with a goodly dollop of smooth vanillin oak- silky smooth yet powerful- A BRILLIANT CLASSIC SHIRAZ!!

Yangarra are doing all the right things with the vines and land they own (they were certified biodynamic in 2012) and have been producing iconic McLaren wine for some time now. That said, Yangarra’s shiraz shows a little more restraint than a typical McLaren red, opting to exhibit the cool climate nuances of the estate vineyard. The nose shows deep red fruit with notes of kirsch and desiccated cherry. A fine nose it is, but where this wine really shines for me is on the palate. Layers of dark fruit and texture roll over the tongue and the tannins are at once a little dusty and drying without sacrificing precision and detail.

Peter Fraser bottled his first preservative-free Shiraz in 2013. Because he was nervous about sending such a naked wine into the wilds of the marketplace without any preservatives, he sterile-filtered it. After tasting it in late 2013 I asked whether he’d bottled some of the batch unfiltered, as a comparison out of interest. He hadn’t, but the following year he did - and he and I both prefer the way the unfiltered version is ageing: unlike the round, sweet, softness of its filtered counterpart, the raw, completely unadulterated 2014 PF Shiraz (certified biodynamic viticulture, wild yeast, no added acid, no fining, nada, zip) has a lovely earthy complexity and sense of place. Despite the success of that trial, though, Fraser did filter his 2015 - partly because the success of the first two vintages has led to greater demand from more distant markets such as the US, and he isn’t confident that a totally unprotected wine will always be stored with appropriate care. Nevertheless, this young, vivid wine is beautiful: essence of purple fruit, lively, juicy, spicy.

Top 100 Australian Wines of 2018 - #91 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. 95 points.

Gold Medal

Gold Medal

Gold Medal

A Toast to Earth Day - The Biodynamic Wines of Yangarra This wine is all about texture. The meaty blueberry hint is sometimes like prosciutto or other dark charcuterie meats; the figgy base tones provide a solid base flavor, the cleansing natural acidity working with the tannins to draw the finish out to a delicious taper with a long aftertaste where those cherries evident in the bouquet.

Yangarra Estate Vineyard: Southern Rhône Specialists in South Australia’s McLaren Vale 2014 Yangarra Estate Vineyard Shiraz — brilliant ruby in the glass with generous aromas of red fruit, dried herbs and black tea aromas. Flavors of tart red fruit, crushed flower stems, dried herbs are supported by juicy acidity. Tannins are substantial and drying, but well integrated with the flavors. The body is medium and the length moderate+. This lovely (and lively) Shiraz shows an exciting tension between the red fruit flavors and acidity that is punctuated by drying tannins. It is a delight to sip and made a delicious pairing for oven roasted chicken and Brussels sprouts with bacon.

Outstanding.

To quote the late, great David Bowie, “leather, leather everywhere…” A-.

A 2013 Shiraz, labeled PF (for Peter Fraser), whole Shiraz grapes cofermented with 3 percent Roussanne, was made with no additions at all—no acid, no tannins, no cultured yeasts, no sulfur dioxide, and sterile-filtered to keep it stable. I found it fresh, with an expressive richness. For me, the assurance that nothing is going to spoil in the bottle makes up for any loss of texture from the filtration.

For our small birthday table, we also visit the hotel’s famous wine cellar, choosing a pretty special local Yangarra 2012 Ironheart shiraz to fit the celebration. Good red goes with anything in my book, including my star choice of fish wings.

Top-flight producer, Top flight wine. You could almost put any price on this and you'd still be reaching for your credit card. It's perfumed and polished, but rich with dark saturated, complex fruit and oak flavour. Tannin motors away in the background. By any measure this wine falls safely into exceptional territory.

The 2010 Iron Heart Shiraz, from those red gravel soils, was less opulent than expected, a more upright style, taut, focused, more structural than flavorful. Clearly, it's built to develop in the bottle.

Very dark crimson. Peppery nose signals Shiraz almost Syrah loud and clear. Very refined richness with leathery character. Admirably avoids being simply sweet and tough. There is lots of potential here. Firm and well balanced. With lots of vitality. Should make rather ravishing old bones. Probably worth waiting. Attractive, and unusual in Australia, dustiness. Very impressive persistence. Very interesting!

So much prettiness and power at once for so little money; gorgeous ripe fruit, teasingly soft texture, haunting persistence of flavor; perfect Aussie shiraz.

Very dark blueish crimson. A bit of oak on the nose and then very sweet, spicy and round initially though pretty tight and tart on the finish. Initially seductive, this wine is pretty demanding by the time it exits the mouth. Though the tannins are much smoother and the whole experience much sweeter than the Australian norm.