Shiraz Wine

Winemaker Description

Classic McLaren Vale Shiraz. Crimson-purple in color. Aromas of dark plum, boysenberries, subtle black pepper and a touch of licorice. On the palate is where the wine becomes fascinating. Rich and opulent black plums, blackberries and boysenberries are intertwined with savory spices, mocha and a plush coat of red cherries. Tannins are ripe and velvety. Acidity, alcohol and oak are finely tuned, and their balance enhances length on the finish.

Expert Reviews

91 Points Wine Enthusiast | Savory notes of sage and bay leaf are as forward on the nose as the plum and cherry notes. There’s a lick of vanillin oak showing, too. The abundance of tangy fruit continues its journey in the mouth, lingering on the finish amidst a powerful, well-placed frame of tannins. (2021).

90 Points James Suckling | Good shiraz, strongly regional, aromatic and attractive. While I query the dryness of the tannins here, there is ample pleasure to be found behind a veneer of violets, purple pastilles, blue fruit, iodine and licorice. A little reduction creates tension without ever becoming too hard. (2021). 

Winemaker Description

This wine is a deep red with a bright magenta hue. Vibrant aromatics of red and black berry fruits, a lift of violet florals, clove spice and mixed garden herbs. The palate is dominated by a lively burst of berry fruits, which are well framed by fine, powdery tannins. Juicy plum and blackberry flavors persist through the finish, with sweet spice to close.

As the wine ages over the decades, these young characters become more complex to create a symphony of flavours on the palate, supported by the further refined tannins of its youth.

Expert Review

92 Points Wine & Spirits Magazine | Peter Barry makes this wine with fruit from his family’s Lodge Hill Vineyard, in the hills three miles east of the township of Clare. It’s a shiraz with vibrant flavors of red and black raspberries, showing off the cool side of Clare in 2017. Fresh and bright, opening to graceful intensity, this is ready to take on crisp-edged grilled pork.

Winemaker Description

A soft, approachable medium-bodied Shiraz with vibrant fruit flavours. 

Winemaker Description

2020 Gnarly Dudes is an unctuous yet classic Barossa Valley Shiraz. This Barossa Valley Shiraz staple will be able to go anywhere with you.

Expert Review

91 Wine Spectator | There's lots to admire in this compact red, which offers dense, firm tannins and accents of Earl Grey tea, smoked paprika, bay leaf, blackberry, blueberry and a hint of sweet mint on the finish. Drink now.

Expert Review 

90 Points James Suckling | Lots of licorice and tea leaf with meat and blackberry aromas. Full body, soft and lightly velvety sparkling red wine. Flavorful finish. Drink now.

Producer Description 

Like the dazzling dance of light from a diamond studded crown, our Shiraz from Washington state vineyards is intriguing. We start with great vineyards, carefully tend the fruit and then harvest it to make a gem of a wine. Luscious raspberry jam, leather and pepper flavors finish with a touch of honey. Taste the brilliance of Red Diamond 

Winemaker Description 

A beautiful structured medium-bodied Shiraz with juicy ripe plum and dark berry flavours. Has fine textures of sweet spice, new leather and a hint of savoury, refreshed with a juicy, plummy finish.

Winemaker Description 

Dark purple hue with a garnet rim. Complex aromas of black fruit, espresso, pine tar, molasses, olives and peppercorn. The elegant palate shows both fresh and dried blackberries, olallieberry and marionberry and a hint of eucalyptus.

Beautifully integrated and fresh on the palate; the finish is long and structured, the black tea-like tannins supported by lively acidity. Velvety soft. A suberb demonstration that Barossa Shiraz can have genuine finesse.

Winemaker Description

Black crimson in color, this wine leaps from the glass with powerful aromatics of blueberries, fresh plum, licorice and nuances of chocolate biscuit. The seamless texture is laced with fresh berry fruit, coffee, vanilla cream and warm spice, giving us a full-bodied Shiraz with an endless depth of flavor and great length.

Expert Review

Robert Parker 92 Points | Once you taste a few of a producer's wines side by side, you really start to get a feel for stylistic preference between warm vintages and cool ones. I surprise myself by saying here that I prefer the warmer vintages at Mollydooker (this does not make it right) because the sunshine and ease with which ripening can occur in a warmer year really seems to suit the plush, high-octane style being proliferated here. So, this 2021 Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz is far more on the blue fruit spectrum than the 2020, which has a complex array of sweet/savory/spice characters. The detail here errs to blackberry, blood plum and resin—a spicy, full-bodied Shiraz. Not for the faint of heart.

Winemaker Notes

Winemaker Description 

This full and round bright-red wine with crimson hues give way to a subtle sweetness on the palate. The criminally intense vanilla aromatics are balanced with ripe raspberry and plum fruits. The vanilla aromatics carry through on the palate and complement subtle flavors of raspberries, dark plums and chocolate. Red berry fruit and plush tannins provide a lingering finish perfect for any evening.

Winemaker Description

A dark, rich purple in color, this wine is from vines grown in ancient Cambrian earth, formed from Cambrian rocks that are over 500 million years old. A limited edition Shiraz dedicated to the first born children of the founders, this wine boasts aromas of cassis and blackberry. The palate is full-bodied yet refined with perfect integration of French oak and decadent notes of dark fruits, tobacco, and mocha. The finish is long with black pepper overtones, red chili and soft tannins, which give this wine a finish that lingers long after it's been enjoyed. 

Pair with a roast leg of lamb, barbecue, and aged hard cheese.

Winemaker Description

St Henri is a time-honoured and alternative expression of shiraz, and an intriguing counterpoint to Grange. It is unusual amongst high quality Australian red wines as it does not rely on any new oak. Released for the first time by Penfolds in the early 1950s (first commercial vintage 1957), it gained a new lease of life in the 1990s as its quality and distinctive style became better understood. Proudly, a wine style that hasn’t succumbed to the dictates of fashion or commerce.

Expert Reviews

Wine Spectator 93 Points | Juicy blueberry and huckleberry fruit flavors at the core are accented by black and red licorice details, with dense, grippy tannins and notes of black pepper and Earl Grey tea. Impressive for its concentration and focus, along with its muscular structure. Drink now through 2035. 284 cases imported.

Wine Advocate 97 Points | The 2018 St Henri Shiraz is a terrific effort, perhaps rivaling the top-flight wines under this label in 1976 and 1986. Remarkably fine and silky in texture yet simultaneously dense and concentrated, it showcases the amazing fruit harvested in 2018. Boysenberry, mulberry and mocha shadings all swirl together effortlessly in a whorl of full-bodied elegance, finishing long and effortless. Mainly Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, it includes smaller amounts of fruit from Port Lincoln, Robe, Padthaway, Clare Valley and the Adelaide Hills, all aged 12 months in large old wooden vats.

Decanter 93 Points | A shift in emphasis for St Henri, with its gaze fixed on depth and seriousness rather than its familiar comforting embrace. With no new oak, it’s always a fruit-driven statement, but this time the rich, red earthy tones are clouded over by a deep well of purple and blue fruit flavours. As a result, it appears to have a broader frame than before, finishing a bit short for a wine of this stature, but still with lots of pleasing savoury grip on the finish. Released at AU$135. Drinking Window 2022 - 2050.

James Suckling 99 Points | A great St. Henri and, although multi-regional, this is very much a wine that speaks of the Barossa Valley, with aromas of ripe blackberries and red plums that are so fresh, together with tobacco, young-leather, earth, chocolate, coal-smoke and tarry accents. Effortless depth on the palate with summer berries, framed in fine, alabaster-like tannins that are underscored with discreet power. So long and captivating. A blend of Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Port Lincoln, Robe, Padthaway, Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills. Drink over the next decade or more. Screw cap.Vinous 95 points Dark, bright-rimmed violet color. A wild, highly complex bouquet evokes spice-tinged black/blue fruits, pipe tobacco, savory herbs, potpourri and olive paste. Weighty and yet energetic in style, offering mineral-driven bitter cherry, cassis, chewing tobacco and exotic spice flavors that turn sweeter through the back half. Round, slowly building tannins give framework to a very long, smoky finish that echoes the cherry and tobacco notes.

Winemaker Description

This fresh, fruity, semi-sweet wine displays aromas and flavors of ripe, juicy berries with dark chocolate undertones.

The perfect balance between sweetness and acidity makes for a refreshing approachability. It is a versatile food wine, best served slightly chilled. 

Winemaker Description

The initials RWT stand for ‘Red Winemaking Trial’, the name given to the project internally when developmental work began in 1995. Naturally, now no longer a ‘trial’, RWT Shiraz was launched in May 2000 with the 1997 vintage. The alphanumeric Bin designation 798 was bestowed upon the wine from the 2016 vintage. Its style is opulent and fleshy, contrasting with Grange, which is more muscular and assertive. RWT is made from fruit primarily selected for its aromatic qualities and plush texture. The result is a wine that helps to redefine Barossa shiraz at the highest quality level. RWT wines area built for the long haul, with the precision, concentration and balance to age for many years.

Expert Review

Wine Advocate 98 Points | Sourced only from the Barossa Valley RWT is aged exclusively in French oak giving it two major points of difference from the rest of the Penfolds range. Always a sexy voluptuous wine (and admittedly a personal favorite) the 2018 RWT Shiraz ratchets that up to new heights in a great Barossa vintage boasting layers of berry-like fruit refined vanilla shadings and baking-spice notes plus more exotic elements like star anise and cocoa powder. It's full-bodied and plush without being unstructured in any way with a lingering complex finish and the concentration to age two decades or more.

James Suckling 96 Points | This has a very attractively fresh showy feel to the nose with aromas of ripe red cherries blackberries goji berries and redcurrants as well as red plums and some wild-herb and licorice notes on offer too. Very expressive and fragrant. The palate has a super intense and powerful delivery of ripe red-cherry and plum flavors and immaculately fresh French oak (64% new) that really clasps and holds the finish long. The tannins are so ripe and well positioned. Drink over two decades.