Clonakilla Canberra District Shiraz - Viognier 2019

Clonakilla’s Shiraz-Viognier was one of the first of its kind, ushering in a new era of more delicately aromatic and succulent Shiraz Down Under. It remains a benchmark of the style. The color of cherry juice, it’s beautifully perfumed, with aromas of rose petals and white pepper atop earthier, meatier notes. Warm stone undertones back fresh squeezed raspberry, cherry and cranberry juice. In the mouth there’s a succulence to the brambly fruit that comes like the pop of a fresh red berry in the mouth. Crunchy acidity and the raspy power of sappy, fine tannins add structure and complexity. This is finely crafted and distinctly cool climate Aussie wine that drinks well now.

Some wines have such distinct DNA. This is one of them. It packs so many layers of flavour and depth, yet never moves much beyond medium body. It smells of a souk market; spicy, peppery and exotic. It's replete with dark fruit, wood char and a touch of wintergreen. Raw silk tannins matched to a neat acid line give freshness, vibrancy and a promise it will last some distance yet.

John Kirk planted his vineyard in 1971, 25 miles north of Australia’s capital city of Canberra. The vines, growing on sandy clay loam over decomposed granite, were the first in the region. Later, his son Tim traveled to Côte Rôtie and came back with the idea of cofermenting a small amount of viognier with his 1992 shiraz. The wine quickly attained legendary status in Australia, and this 2019 will quickly make it clear how the site is graced. This is a fragrant, subtle and welcoming wine, a shiraz of elegance, polish and textural complexity. The dark fruit is infused with energy, so it feels juicy without weight, layering scents of fenugreek, curry, violets and mushrooms over the cool tones of the fruit. The wine’s stamina shows as it keeps gaining supple depth with each passing day. 

The 2019 Shiraz Viognier is from a low-yielding (down around 15% to 20%), warm and dry year with some well-timed summer rain that allowed the vines to produce bright, lively fruit. The warm year brought higher alcohol with it (14.6% alcohol as opposed to the 13.2% of 2021), but the same 6% Viognier inclusion remains. The wine was matured for 18 months in French oak. Where the 2021 is bright, delicate and lacy, this 2019 is denser, muscular and layered with dark, brooding, exotic spices, cocoa nib, licorice root, roasted meat rind and tobacco leaf. In the mouth, the tannins are the most pertinent feature: still powdery fine and shapely, earthy (black) and savory. At no point does any feature of the wine break ranks. There are no strays, no breakaways; this is seamless and contained from all angles. It is an astounding wine and proof that very quickly after release these wines morph into shades of what they will become in older age. Rating: 95+

Effusive, polished and elegant, showing plush flavors of blood orange, raspberry and blueberry at the core, with details of Earl Grey tea, cumin, cloves and white pepper that linger on the long, expressive finish, where the tannins firm up.