Description
Howard Park, one of Western Australia’s pioneering wine families with a 30 year history and two generations of tireless work of the Burch family, they specialise in the state’s premier grape-growing regions of Margaret River and the Great Southern. They are also part of Australia’s First Families of Wine (AFFW), an exciting collective of 12 multi-generational family-owned wine producers.
Winemaker Janice McDonald and the family are still celebrating after winning Gourmet Traveller Winemaker of the Year for 2018. Peter Forrestal, of Gourmet Traveller said “Janice McDonald is an astounding winemaker: demanding of herself and others; rigorous; painstaking in her attention to detail.”
Margaret River is Australia’s most spectacular wine region with breathtaking coastline, Karri forests and maritime climate perfectly suited to premium grape growing. 100% estate grown fruit Howard Park makes beautiful wines with depth of fruit, balance and structure that overdeliver across the board.
This wine is part of Howard Park’s Distinguished Sites range. Shiraz from vineyards in the Frankland River subregion of the Great Southern is blended to highlight the distinctive varietal and regional qualities of our best sites. The expression of Shiraz from this cool, continental climate is characterised by an intensity and concentration of dark fruits with traces of spice, earth and guiding tannins.
About this wine from the winemakers: In 2022, beautiful dry and sunny conditions were entrenched throughout January and February, removing a great deal of the disease pressure that rain and humidity can bring and allowing a predictable insight into ripening patterns across most varieties. While summer set the scene for another consistent and memorable vintage, certain varieties paid a penalty for difficult conditions earlier in the growing season. The wet winter of 2021 lingered unduly, smothering the renewal of spring and delaying the onset of budburst and flowering in the vineyards. The consequence was reduced yields in our estate vineyards in the Great Southern. Consistent fine weather at the tail end of the growing season ensured that the potential developed in the vines was maximised by picking at optimum levels of ripeness. Superb balance between sugar, acidity and flavour across all varieties gives us great optimism for the evolution of wines from the 2022 vintage.
The wine was blended from a selection of the best batches of Shiraz grown on our vineyards in Frankland River. Soils in this area are lateritic gravels over sandy, clay loam.
The fruit for the 2022 Scotsdale Shiraz is a combination of hand-picked bunches and some rows collected by the Pellenc Selectiv harvester. The ferment take place in small static fermenters using native yeast, with twicedaily punch downs for air circulation. Maloloactic fermentation takes place in tank, post the alcoholic ferment, and then 600 litre French oak puncheons are filled for an elevage in barrel of 9 months. 25% new barrels are used. The wine was bottled in February 2023 after a light fining and filtration.
The 2022 Scotsdale Shiraz displays an intense, vibrant purple robe, most inviting and almost shimmering in its brilliance. There is a beautifully balanced aromatic bouquet of freshly cooked plums, forest berries and cinnamon, with some blackberry bush and sage notes adding additional complexity. The palate is elegance personified, with an enveloping, sensual texture elevating the attack of bright and juicy red and black fruits. A suave, fine tannin profile provides for flavour persistence through the finish, and savoury notes coalesce on the back palate to remind us that this pure-fruited wine has the soul of Shiraz waiting to emerge over a decade of bottle age.
95 Points, Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan Wine “A vibrant high energy shiraz from the Great Southern. Highly perfumed aromas of stewy plum and blackberry with tracs of dried herbs with a sage-like character, It’s soft and supple with grainy tannins threading deep and a light touch of oak to bring it to life. There is a beautiful clarity and pristine purity here. Dry savoury finish completes.”
94 points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday’s Wine Companion “Give this time to reveal itself as there’s a lot going on. It starts with florals, red and blue fruit aromas and exotic spices such as cardamom and star anise. The palate is tightly reined in by firm tannins, including oak tannins, plus crunchy acidity alongside an intriguing stony character. That’s the first snapshot. In time, it relaxes, and fruit fleshes out the palate, allowing savoury elements to appear. Very good and will be better with more time as this was tasted nearly eight months before release.”
92 points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review “Deep, intense ruby with a bright purple rim. Mulberry, mulberry leaf and river stone aromas. Medium to full body with mulberry fruit lifted by dark spices and river stone minerality. Hints of dried rosemary add a freshening element that works in tandem with granular tannins to focus the finish.”
92 points, Angus Hughson ,Winepilot “This very impressive young 2022 Frankland River Shiraz is complex and understated with layered old leather, spice, earth and licorice aromas.The palate is more in the red fruit zone, silky tannins and vibrant acidity combining well with genuine tension in play over a generous, fine finish. Delicious now but also a sleeper that will reward cellaring.”
RRP $42 Our Special Price $32.99 when you buy 6 of this wine**
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