Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2019

97 Points Ralph Kyte-Powell
96 Points Campbell Mattinson
96 Points Jane Faulkner

The Shiraz Viognier is their flagship, a careful selection of the best of the Shiraz Viognier parcels  they craft each year on their  Murrumbateman vineyard.

A warm growing season followed a dryer than average winter. Yields were 20% down, but what we lost in volume we gained in intensity. 77mm of rain in January and 32mm in February were a timely blessing. Come harvest time we picked some of the richest, darkest fruit we have seen at Clonakilla.

Deeply aromatic, opulent and powerfully ripe. Plush tannins and layers of dark fruit deliver a robust palate and serious cellaring potential.

6% co-fermented Viognier.

“In any case this is a wonderful release. It leaps from the glass with wonder on its lips. Plums and florals and spices and meats take a walk through a garden, woodsmoke suggested, summer alive. It’s elegant and refined and yet it’s all there, it’s all open. It gets you in the feels; it has a kind of satiny confidence, like it knows that it’s good and it knows that you’ve noticed. Fine fingers of tannin, curry leaf notes, berries. Florals here as mentioned but maybe not as pronounced as usual, as if viognier and shiraz have become one. Still there’s nothing reserved about this wine. Nothing. It’s just all there, ready, perfect.” – 96 Points Campbell Mattinson, Winefront.

“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.” – 96 Points Jane Faulkner

“The just-released 2019 has lovely freshness and purity with crushed berry aromas, a musky floral thread, complexities of spice, dry herbs and understated smoky oak. It’s medium-bodied with a lovely silky texture, impressive intensity of lingering flavour and ripe, soft tannins in perfect harmony. Delicious right now as a young wine, but its potential with bottle age is proven by past experience.” – 97 Points Ralph Kyte-Powell