94 Points - Mike Bennie
For the past 20 years, Ravensworth's Bryan Martin has been making some of Australia’s most compelling and highly sought-after wines; first at Clonakilla, then at his own Ravensworth estate perched high in Murrumbateman.
The newly released 2022 Ravensworth Shiraz Viognier is a co-fermented blend of Shiraz (97%) and Viognier (3%). The fruit grows at a lofty 650 metres on the Murrumbateman estate vineyard’s 25-year-old vines. The fruit was primarily processed as whole berries (10% bunches) in cuve, spending four weeks on skins before being pressed to old barrique for 12 months. It was then racked to seasoned Stockinger foudre, where it rested for a further 12 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.
“94 Points. It’s loaded with spice and florals, not overtly viognier-flexed but there’s pretty, sweet elements and a glossiness to texture that gives you an idea about the white grape inclusion. The perfume, cinnamon-clove-cardamom brown spices on red cherry, dark plum, green olive and some bergamot tea and alpine herb notes. Flavours roll similarly, quite rich in a way but a brace of tightening tannins, dusty, powdery, do well. A succulence and depth in tow. It feels premium, fine, good, concentrated, complex. A richer expression from Canberra District would be the other comment. It does the trick and well.”- Mike Bennie, The Wine Front.
