Superb value! There is a good amount of oak in the form of coffee and chocolate which weave between the dark cherry, damson plum, blackberry and eucalyptus. It is deeply coloured with firm tannins which will allow it to age for a decade.
Opaque plum red. Complex nose in which one can detect the aromas of raisins, light molasses, treacle toffee, dark chocolate, and even a bit of eucalyptus. Medium-bodied, tasting of blackcurrant, blackberry and stewed fruits with some herbal and green bell pepper overtones from the Cabernet Franc in the blend. Fruit is thinning, drink now.
If big, bold red wines are your bag, this is your wine. Deep purple in colour, it has a rich nose of blackberries and cedar with a note of iodine. Medium to full-bodied, you get concentrated flavours of sweet blackberry and plum with a chocolate note. An ideal BBQ wine, especially for pepper steak.
Dense purple-black in colour; spicy, blackberry nose with a floral top note; medium-bodied, dry, fruity but firm with a clovey, tannic finish.
If someone showed me this label, I would pass. But if someone poured me a glass of this very pale, lightly spiced strawberry, wild raspberry, Rainier cherry, dried herbs, light bodied rosé, I would easily finish the glass and inquire what it is while pouring a second. Gimmicky label and name aside, this is pretty serious Sangiovese rosé from Langhorne Creek. This achieves that tricky trifecta of fruit/acidity/interest, the latter in this case is a swig of salted herbs. There's a wee swell of warmth on the finish that surprises in this 12.5 degree frame, though that is easily overlooked by the numerous food pairing/patio pairing opportunities in this dry rosé. Props for making a real wine aimed at, I assume, a mass market audience of spandex-wearing yogi. Now, about that name/label
Shaw + Smith winery was founded in 1989 by Michael Hill Smith (of Yalumba) and Martin Shaw (his cousin, a well-travelled wine consultant) with the goal of producing elegant, refined cool climate wines at a time when no one in Oz was talking about cool climate. They focused on Adelaide Hills for their project. This was whole bunch pressed and native fermented in new and used French oak, where it spent 9 months with some lees stirring, and another 2 months on lees in tank before bottling. The wood is present in this youthful, expressive wine, but handily balanced by weighted pear, white peach, apple, and ample cream on the medium bodied palate. Hazelnuts, brioche, lemon pith layer on the confident, structural palate. Acidity backbones this lengthy wine, and river stones texture and bed it through the spicy, lingering finish. Drinking very well now, but will continue to gain in depth over 5+ years. If you can't wait, pour with halibut, sablefish and fresh spring vegetables.
This is the winery's flagship white, named for the historic property first established in 1892. This is sourced from the heart of Clare, from two blocks in the historic St. Andrews vineyards, and planted to the French Bernard clone. From the famed terra rossa soils (red brown loam over limestone), this is whole berry pressed with juice cooled quickly to maintain freshness and delicacy. The juice is then cold-settled prior to fermentation in French oak barrels with batonnage for 9 weeks post fermentation, followed by 10 months on lees in new and 1-year-old French oak. All the treatments are certainly felt in this serious, full-bodied and creamy white, lined with lemon curd, hay, roasted almonds and savoury flinty notes. Pear, white peach, large flake salts are compacted into an impressive 12 degrees alcohol. Though the wood is evident at this very youthful stage, this wine was built for the future. So much freshness and finesse here now; drinks beautifully now after opening but will be a killer in a few years’ time. Cellar-worthy, and a highlight of the portfolio.