It’s matured in 20 percent new oak and includes 6 percent co-fermented viognier. Whole bunches and warm fermented. It’s different to the flagship Clonakilla shiraz-viognier. Stalkier, meatier. It’s also from a very good red (Canberra) vintage.
It’s an easy-going mid-weight in terms of intensity and it has lots of toasty, meaty, sappy influences. If you’re not a great fan of stalk influence you’ll probably find this wine a touch green. It’s not - it’s cherried and spicy, smoky and very fine through the finish. It’s a wine where the flavours seem to have been picked up and placed into the wine with care and deliberation. It needs more time to grow more comfortable within its own skin, but I have no doubt of its quality - within its style. Drink : 2012 - 2018 94 Points Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
The indefatigable Tim Kirk, with an inexhaustible thirst for knowledge, is the winemaker and manager of this family winery founded by Tim's father, scientist Dr John Kirk. It is not at all surprising that the quality of the wines is excellent, especially the Shiraz Viognier, which has paved the way for numerous others to follow, but remains the best example in Australia. Exports to all major markets.James Halliday
