2018 Shiraz Viognier lay-down 6-pack
The Shiraz Viognier is our flagship, a careful selection of the best of the Shiraz Viognier parcels we craft each year from our Murrumbateman vineyard.
A hail storm on January 9 gave us plenty to worry about, reducing what was already a small crop. Mercifully, the vines recovered well. A brilliant ripening season followed, marked by a run of gorgeous weather in the crucial late Summer/early Autumn.
Opulent aromas of roses, violets and layered spices, ripe berries of every hue. Perfectly formed tannins frame complex fruit flavours across the palate. This wine will age magnificently.
6% co-fermented Viognier
28% whole bunches
14% Alc/Vol
pH 3.68
TA 6.1 g/L
Residual sugar 0.5 g/L
Sulfur Dioxide (free) 39 mg/L
Incredibly complex aromas of baking spices, fresh red fruit and a fine and elegant, floral edge,
The best vintage made at Clonakilla to date! Perfection!
as well as red cherries, raspberries and red plums. This is phenomenal, so precise and concentrated with such detail and power, delivered with elegance and precision.
This is phenomenal
The palate is super long. The best vintage made at Clonakilla to date! Perfection! Drink now, but better from 2026.
Australia’s best shiraz isn’t Australia’s best shiraz in every year, though Clonakilla comes close.
This 2018 may well be the best shiraz released in Australia this year.
It’s a superb release. Just look at the tannin profile and then put down your glasses. Black berried fruit, a suggestion of meatiness, whispers of woodsy spice notes, a certain creaminess, a quick shake of pepper, a touch of volatility.
deserving of prime space in the best of cellars
Nothing protrudes; it’s the definition of seamless. The screw of tannin, so often left to last, begins almost at the start. We are looking at an ultra-long-term wine here, deserving of prime space in the best of cellars.
The colour is medium to deep red/purple and the bouquet is lifted, spicy, aromatic and floral, with refinement and palate tension. Fragrant herbs, mint, subtle pepper and mixed spices. Violets and assorted berries.
There’s great intensity as well as elegance here
and the tannins are fine and firm, tautly tensioned and precise, running the full length of the very long palate. A delicious wine in a medium-bodied but seriously structured style.