Description
What a remarkable jouney for Clonakilla. When John Kirk first planted vines in 1971 who would have thought it would be celebrated as one of Australia’s finest vineyards! Their first Shiraz Viognier was made in 1998 – by 2005 it was deemed ‘Outstanding’ in Langton’s Australian Wine Classification … by 2010 it was promoted to “Exceptional” .. up there with Grange and Hill of Grace! Murrumbateman & Canberra wine region is all about cool climate shiraz … complex layering of raspberry, violets, spice, cracked pepper, roast game with darker blackberry, blackcurrant and aniseed in warmer years. Clonakilla’s shiraz across the board including the Hilltops and O’Riada remind me of syrah at it’s best from famed ‘Cote Rotie’ in France’s Northern Rhone.
Winemaker Tim Kirk says about the 2023 vintage: “There is no doubt vintage 2023 gave us some anxious moments. The spring was so wet and cool that the vines were very reluctant to emerge from their winter sleep. When they did emerge, the shoots grew so slowly that I wondered whether the grapes would ever ripen. Thankfully, the summer did finally arrive, and the vines embarked on the long but determined journey of ripening grapes through the warm late summer and mild but generally sunny autumn. We ended up picking in mid-April, with the fruit exactly ripe and in excellent condition.
You really have to smell this wine to believe the intensity and purity of fruit we received in the 2023 Shiraz Viognier. As Clonakilla SV goes, this vintage strikes me as archetypal, style-defining, the essence of cool-climate Shiraz. It is certainly beautiful; aromatically thrilling with a classically luminous, elegant palate.”
98 Points. Tyson Stelzer, Shiraz Of The Year 2024. “94% shiraz, 6% viognier, 22% whole bunches, wild fermented, gently plunged over 2-3 weeks of maceration, one-third new French oak barriques and puncheons. The third cool season in a row and the latest harvest in more than a decade has delivered a glorious shiraz viognier of exquisite detail and harmony. Whole bunches (22%) and viognier (6%) seamlessly unite to heighten aromas of violets, rose petals, potpourri, white pepper, fennel seed and curry, providing dimension to a delicious core of satsuma plum, black cherry and blackberry fruit. Super-fine, granitic-mineral tannins trace a magnificent finish and confirm a Clonakilla for the ages. A worthy joint winner of my Shiraz of the Year. Drink 2028 – 2053″
98 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot “Put simply, this is” one of Australia’s greatest wines, year after year, and one of only a handful that can be reliably called world class, without hesitation. It is also one of the world’s very best Shiraz Viognier blends, happily sitting beside the best from Cote Rotie. From a cool year, their third in a row, the blend is 94% Shiraz and 6% Viognier. 22% of the Shiraz was whole bunches and that was co-fermented with the Viognier, via wild yeasts. For maturation, the wine went into French oak barrels, both puncheons and barriques, with one-third of them new. Deep magenta, the nose exhibits all the joy and complexity that we have come to expect from this stellar wine. Focus, balance and seemingly endless length, this also has silky tannins and while there is an underlying exuberance with the fruit, everything is held in restraint. Cocoa powder, truffles, raspberries, spices, aniseed and tobacco leaves, the wine is utterly seamless with fifteen to twenty years ahead of it, with ease. Virtuoso winemaking resulting in a masterpiece. 2024 – 2044.”
97 points, Nick Ryan, Top 100 wines of 2024, The Weekend Australian Magazine “There can be no question that Tim Kirk’s Murrumbateman masterwork is one of Australia’s most important wines, and this latest release builds on the legacy of previous vintages and elevates it even more. Achingly beautiful and intricately layered the wine presents a fine tapestry of fragrant fruit and heady spices, moves through the mouth like unfurling silk and finishes with a plume of finely pixelated tannins.”
96 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front. “The finesse of this release. The fragrance too, which leads to a palate where just enough, feels like extra. It’s buoyant, juicy and perfumed, with a wild party of spice notes flying through the wine like happiness itself, or like confetti, either way there’s an air here of celebration. This wine sits on the apex of the road, where the rain meets the oil. The fruit flavours have a water-colour aspect; the texture coats the flavour in satin. We’ve come to expect all the above from Clonakilla’s flagship wine. What’s special, for me, in this 2023 release is the web of tannin, as dewy as it is strong. There’s a weave to this release. It’s a masterpiece of twigs, nuts and strings. If Morricone had been a winemaker he’d have made something like this. Orchestral. Spellbinding. Itself. Drink 2025-2040+”
RRP $158 **Our Special Price $123.99 when you buy 6 or more of this wine**
