Shiraz Viognier

We’ve opened the museum!

As promised, in the face of scarcity following the loss of our 2020 harvest (and the consequent delay in the release of our 2019 Shiraz Viognier) we are opening our wine museum to help fill the void.

Our first wine out is the 2014 Shiraz Viognier.

It’s drinking beautifully right now, brimming with classic Clonakilla violets and pepper spice, with the silky Murrumbateman tannin profile perfectly fine tuned through five years in bottle.

The 2014 has been safely stored in our temperature controlled ‘bunker’ since the day it was bottled. Enjoy!




2018 Syrah now available!

We are thrilled to be releasing the 2018 Syrah today!

The 2018 Syrah, from a stellar vintage, is at least as good as any Syrah, or indeed any wine, we have ever made.

Here is what Huon Hooke had to say:

“The bouquet is spicy first, floral second, fruit driving it … wonderful complexity. The palate is medium-bodied and very elegant, stylish, polished and fluent…The palate length is extraordinary and seamless all the way…It’s deceptively easy to enjoy now, but a few years on it promises to bring even more to the table. Great now and even greater potential.” 98 points – Huon Hooke, The Real Review

Watch this short video about the Syrah and get a feel for the beautiful and distinctive site from which this wine is made.

The majestic 2018 Shiraz Viognier is released in magnum today.

The 2018 Ballinderry likewise is available now. The quality of the vintage shines in this wine too.

You’ll notice there is no 2019 Shiraz Viognier offered here. That wine will be released in March next year. (We’re stretching things out to help cover the loss of the 2020 vintage to smoke.)

Warm regards,

Tim

2018 Shiraz Viognier

There is no doubt the 2018 is one of the great vintages.
A lower than average crop produced fruit with soaring aromas and intense energy through the palate.

“This is phenomenal, so precise and concentrated with such detail and power, delivered with elegance and precision…” 99 – James Suckling, Nick Stock

“There’s great intensity as well as elegance here…A delicious wine in a medium-bodied but seriously structured style.” 98 – Huon Hooke

“This 2018 may well be the best shiraz released in Australia this year…It’s a superb release…it’s the definition of seamless…We are looking at an ultra-long-term wine here, deserving of prime space in the best of cellars.” 96 – Campbell Mattinson

Look out for the announcement of the venues for our 2019 Clonakilla Dinner Series in a couple of weeks.

Warm regards,

Tim Kirk

Halliday’s Top 100 – 98 points – 2017 Shiraz Viognier

We were delighted to see our 2017 Shiraz Viognier named in James Halliday’s Top 100 a few weeks ago. What made it even better was that it was the second Top 100 list in which the wine has appeared. On Monday last week the 2017 Shiraz Viognier secured a place in James Suckling’s Top 100 – this time up against international benchmarks. On both occasions the wine scored 98 points. James Halliday’s review: “…Tim Kirk nails it when he writes of a line of pure spice running through the bouquet and palate – I would simply add “and the aftertaste” because this has superb length and texture, replete with red berry flavours.” Nick Stock for James Suckling:
“One of the greatest vintages of this wine. It has a super complex array of white and black peppers, hard brown spices, leaves, flowers and fresh wet earth, as well as graphite-like dark stony notes… The palate is delivered with steady elegance and power, showing unwavering build and a seemingly never-ending trail of fresh and spicy fruit flavors. With the most immaculate tannins, too. The real soul of this wine shines through in this perfectly simpatico vintage. Fascinating to drink now, but it is best to give it some time. Try around 2025.”

2017 Shiraz Viognier release

We are thrilled to tell you that for the third time the Shiraz Viognier has been confirmed as Exceptional, one of Australia’s greatest wines, in Langtons Classification VII.

The 2017 continues the long line of beautiful vintages that has established the lofty status of our flagship wine. The reviews are amazing:

One of the greatest vintages of this wine. It has a super complex array of white and black peppers, hard brown spices, leaves, flowers and fresh wet earth, as well as graphite-like dark stony notes.

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