New Release | 97 Points - Ralph Kyte-Powell
Located some 30 minutes north of Canberra in the small rural town of Murrumbateman, Clonakilla has established a status that belies its relatively small size. Inspired by the great wines of Cote Rotie of France’s Rhone Valley, Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier is widely regarded as one of Australia's greatest red wines.
The newly released 2019 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier continues the impeccable recent track record of this wine, and is receiving high acclaim from some of Australia's most respected wine figures. With no 2020 vintage of this wine to be released, our limited stocks of the 2019 release are likely to sell out very quickly.
"97 Points. 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. Drink: 2021 to 2031; Price: $130.00. 14% alc"- Ralph Kyte-Powell; The Real Review.
"96 Points.... 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. Tasted: Jan 21. 14% alc. $120 Screwcap Drink: 2021 - 2040+" - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front.
"96 Points. 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. $130. 14% alc. Drink by 2035. Screwcap" - Jane Faulkner, winecompanion.com.au.
"A special occasion to celebrate? May I point you in the direction of the opulent new-release Clonakilla 2019 Shiraz Viognier, a benchmark Australian red blend of red and white grapes (94% shiraz and 6% viognier c-fermented). Winemaker Tim Kirk says yields were down 20% but he cannot recall many vintages with more power and intensity. This is powerful, dark, plush and cellarworthy. Clonakilla is a small, family business at Murrumbateman, outside Canberra, that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Buy a bottle and raise a toast to this Rhone-influenced standout. $120" - Winsor Dobbin, wdwineoftheweek.blogspot.com.
"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."- Clonakilla Wines.
