Shiraz from two blocks of the Yangarra vineyard. 25% whole bunches/50% whole berries. Cold soak, wild yeast, open fermenters, kept on lees, matured in all-French oak, 35% new. Certified organic/biodynamic. It’s a dense style and yet it remains remarkably fresh. This is the best of many worlds. Plush plum, savoury cloves and spice, silken slips of smoky/cedary oak, emery-board tannin. It’s almost raw with freshness and yet it’s complex and vinous. It’s lengthy. There’s a sense of wonder to this wine. It’s perfectly formed. Drink 2020 - 2036
Estate fruit, 50% whole berries, a portion of whole bunches, wild ferment and aged in French oak 25% new for 17 months. Excellent dark-purple hue; succulent and velvety texture with some power to the chiselled tannins, savoury yet pristine fruit the key.
It has more perfume and lift than most with currants, Treviso radicchio, crushed gravel and cinnamon quills. Ripe tannins and sprightly acidity are in sync, with the latter in the driver's seat. Come along for the ride.
A 49/29/22% blend of grenache, shiraz and mourvedre. Hand-picked, mechanically sorted, 50% whole berries, cold soak, open fermenters, plunged, wild yeast-fermented, kept on lees in 100% used French oak for 9 months. Brilliant hue; the wine effortlessly communicates its distinguished breeding, the medium-bodied palate with a silken line of fruit, then a thin coat of fine, savoury tannins.
One of the noticeable traits about Yangarra's wines, GSM in particular, there's nothing harsh or worked, there's a purity of fruit that comes through, the balance of tannins to acidity, and this not shy with the latter. The right amount of spice and flavour and most importantly, crafting a really, delicious drink.
From bush vines planted ’46 in Blewitt Springs’ sandy soils; hand-picked, mechanically sorted, 50% whole berries, cold soak, open-fermented, wild yeast, on lees in used French oak for 9 months. Bright crimson; a grenache with serious intent, its tightly focused and structured palate way above the norm, the pure core of bright red fruits precisely delineated and very long. For the long haul.
From bush vines planted in 1946, 50% whole-berries, wild yeast and kept on lees in used French oak for 10 months. So fragrant it's breathtaking. To start, a whirl of perfectly ripe raspberries and red currants, patchouli and subtle Middle Eastern spices. The palate is tightly wound, with raspberry-like acidity, more pronounced tannins in the background. They'll meet up in time.
This is one of the most exciting wines I have tried in a long time. Wildly intense with bright maraschino cherry aromas and flavours. The palate is young, taut and tactile with cherry pip vibrancy and shimmering spice. The barely perceptible savouriness gives the wine depth and character. Highly recommended. Drink 2017 - 2023
Beautiful fragrance, fruit and structure. It’s light but insistent; it has presence. I guess you’d say that it tastes of redcurrant and plum, gently stewed versions thereof, though saltbush and sweet spice notes gather in number, and there’s an earthen aspect, a suggestion that it’s of the ground. Tannin here; it means business. It doesn’t just sit there; the tannin here takes those fruit and spice notes and brands the finish with where it comes from. $35, in any walk of life, rarely offers that kind of connection; that kind of more.
Sourced from Block 30 (planted 1946). Raised in two 675L ceramic eggs, and kept on skins for 120 days post ferment. No oak. 93 cases.
Enchanting violet and rose perfume, fresh raspberries, subtle underlay of earth and spice. Light to medium bodied, superb tannin – chamois-like – all grip and mouth-coating authority, very fresh pronounced acidity, but feels clear and clean, then a perfumed bright finish of red berries and a slick of refreshing tannin. So precise, yet charming. Superb.
Wild yeast, fermented and matured in two 675L ceramic eggs, fermenting on skins for 140 days. Grapes sourced from Block 30, planted in 1946. And, well, if ever there was a Grenache style for me, then no oak and heaps of grape tannin is it.
Flowers, sugar coated almonds, cherry and raspberry, aromatic herbs, Medium bodied, red fruits and spice, beautiful mineral and brick dust tannin, perfume and almost cranberry juice acidity, freshness and great length, etched with tannin and scented with flowers and almond. What a beautiful wine. It’s an Italianate expression, as well as essence of Old Vine Grenache. Hats off to the team at Yangarra.
Whole berries, basket-pressed to French oak, 5% new, wild ferment and 7 months on lees. While there's a whisper of nashi pears, daikon, camomile, fennel and white pepper, this runs on a savoury track with fine acidity keeping it from ever becoming too big. Lovely drink.
Hand-picked from the 1.4ha estate block, whole bunch basket-pressed, predominantly tank-fermented, then used French oak for 4 months, lees-stirred. In typical Yangarra fashion, it has captured the best bits of viognier, impressive to say the least, especially its fruit lift on the finish. 362 dozen made.
It's viognier but not as you know it. It's not big, fat nor riddled with apricots. Instead, it's savoury and really textural with grilled nuts, jasmine rice, a creamed-honey leesy character and saline-like acidity. As good as it gets and stylishly so.
The 2020 Pinot Noir 459 has a medium ruby-purple color and an alluring blend of deep red and blue fruit: boysenberry, dried cranberry and dried red cherries open with time to cola, lemon peel and black tea. The medium-bodied palate is chalky and fresh with bursting red fruit character and a juicy, citrus-laced finish.
Medium ruby, the 2020 Pinot Noir 3D features very pure, ringing aromas of pomegranate, red cherries, orange zest, charcuterie and earth. The medium-bodied palate is elegant and fresh with chalky tannins, mouthwatering acidity and generous red fruit, finishing very long and layered. What an elegant expression!
Beautiful translucent ruby, wonderful fruit on the nose, close to a black cherry Kool-Aid, along with earth and mineral notes. Quite dry and fruity, great depth, really fantastic. Outstanding.
Juicy raspberry and cherry, aniseed, with a stony ferrous edge, dried flowers and chamomile. Medium-bodied, red fruits with a sappy and savoury edge, tannin is firm and stony, plenty of red berry flavour, though keeps itself pretty neat, with supple grip on a very long and bright finish. Tannin is a highlight. Kind of jubey as at now, though its future feels assured. Excellent.
From a site at an 1,800-foot elevation, this wine is oaky and spiced, with an opening of lush apple, nutmeg and tropical flair. Minerality enters in the form of crushed rock, with well-hewn structure and high acidity at play.
A note of butterscotch lingers on the finish
This concentrated and complete wine offers luscious dark cherries, red plums, dark chocolate and an intricate layering of subtle spices including nutmeg, cinnamon, cedar and mint. These start in the nose and last through the velvety palate and lingering finish. Grown at a 2,800-foot elevation, the wine should drink best from 2025–2035.
Brooding and intense aromas of cassis, plum and asphalt are dark yet not overly ripe on the fresh nose of this bottling. The palate also exhibits that intense concentration without being too ripe, offering fresh purple fruit and flower flavors as well as light spice.
Savory in black pepper, smoked meat and cigar box, this wine is high-toned aromatically, with lovely hints of violet and dried herb, sage and bay leaf. Mountain-sturdy tannins give it structure, power and room to age, with lasting acidity to keep it fresh. Enjoy best from 2029–2039.
What a great word archetypal is. Although it’s one of those words that annoying wine writers like me use, but most normal humans would never put in a sentence.
‘Yeah, Matt is the archetypal builder now he has a Ford Ranger’.
No one says that.
Anyway, archetypal is how to describe this Yangarra Ironheart Shiraz 2019, which is everything you’d want in a McLaren Vale Shiraz – a big, chunky, mid-palate driven Shiraz of real flavour volume.
Now, Ironheart comes off Block 15 on the Yangarra property, which has ironstone gravel soils. Power of suggestion, but I can see the ferrous ironstone here. Plush purple fruit, but compact in a warm year style (rather than open and juicy) if a little drying at the edges. That purple fruit volume is proper flagship-level stuff – a flow of Ribena and plum, with thick cut tannins, a kick of alcohol warmth and chew through the finish.
Long, powerful and mouthfilling, this is an impressive Shiraz.
Best drinking: go now or in a decade. Your choice!
Would I buy it? Well worth a bottle.