Wendouree Clare Valley Shiraz Mataro 2017

‘AP Birks’ Wendouree is among Australia’s most collectible and sought after names in wine. This is picture perfect South Australia, Chocolate brown soils of the Clare hills, broken up with the contrast of rustic old buildings and eucalyptus trees.

Planting commenced in 1892 with a 0.2Ha block of Cabernet Sauvignon and then subsequent Birks generations planted further varieties, Shiraz in 1911 and additional Cabernet planting in 1971, eventually ending up with 50Ha of vines in total. Through time, overall plantings were reduced to about 25Ha in order to better manage the quality of the soil & the fruit to focus on making the best wines possible.

Vines are all dry-grown (no irrigation), produce grapes of fantastic concentration of flavour from the now, knarled old vines. Ultimately delivering a wine of concentration and power, built to stand the test of time. Needless to say, production is extremely limited with most wines sold through an allocation program.

Wendouree Shiraz Mataro with its deep colour, blackberry liquorice fruit and iron-fisted tannins belongs to a stable of wines which intensely articulate vineyard character, regional provenance, the personalities of winemakers present and traditional winemaking practice. The fruit is generally "bigger berried and medium bodied" compared to other blocks. However the particularity of house style remains a "constant" because of the high skin to juice ratio and the exceptionally high seed content in the fruit (especially Shiraz). Vinification takes place in open stainless steel-lined open slate fermenters, with regular plunging. The wine is matured in fine grained 20% new and used Seguin Moreau oak for 12 months.

"It opens with that cornucopia of Aussie bushwalk scents of earth, trees, dried leaves, eucalyptus, with black cherry, lavender, brined black olive introduced late in the bouquet. Firm ribs of Italianate tannins tighten and give rails to more of the dark cherry flavours, alongside more brined black olive, dried green herbs. Texture is succulent, grippy from mid-palate to close; I love these tannins, and the finish is a swoosh of dark berry flavours, green-citrus acidity and strong, black bergamot tea. Power, edginess, savoury qualities, in a tightly wound wine. Impressive wine. 95+ points, The Wine Front"