Deep crimson. Classical blackberry, praline, ginger, sage aromas with mocha oak notes. Luxurious blackberry pastille, blackcurrant, black cherry fruits, superb fine chocolatey/velvet tannins and beautifully balanced mocha/vanilla/smoky oak notes. Finishes velvety/gravelly firm with raspberry, graphite/bush garrigue notes. A hugely impressive long-lasting Clare Valley Shiraz with lovely fruit definition, density and vigour.

Bright and taut yet also textural thanks to garnacha’s fruit qualities and bobal’s rounded yet determined tannins. At one sip it is raspberry coulis, the next sip plum jam, another sip and there springs forward wild rabbit slowly stewed with prunes and thyme. A quietly rich palate, but the ever-present tannins and the lick of acidity guarantee dignity..

Wine has been flowing in the Clare Valley since 1851 and is an integral part of the culture. A small area, accounting for less than 1.5% of Australia’s total wine production, it is one of Australia’s most prestigious premium wine regions, most famous for its Riesling and Shiraz. With its beautiful rolling hills, ideal winter rainfall, and Mediterranean climate, the Clare Valley carries a unique history and winemaking heritage. The tiny village of Watervale (population 246), nestled at the southern end of the Clare Valley, is best known for its world-class Riesling, but it also produces exceptional shiraz. Our Watervale Shiraz is sourced from our estate vineyards in and around the village, where the cool nights and ancient soils contribute to a wine of lifted aromatics, fine tannins, and vibrant fruit.

This Shiraz is a luscious garnet with purple hues and displays a lifted yet intense nose of blackberry, blood plum and mocha with hints of smoky oak and some regional mintiness. It’s a medium to full-bodied wine with generous blackcurrant, blueberry and fruitcake flavours overlying fine structural tannins, subtle oak and soft acidity which will stand the wine in good stead for years to come.

This hand made wine is both complex and rewarding having no filtration prior to bottling to preserve the rich plum and spicy fruit flavours. All fruit was estate grown and sourced from low yielding, hand pruned and picked vines.

With plenty of blackberry, plum, mulberry and menthol-like fruit and fine, rusty, almost unyielding tannins, this is a strong, firm wine by Wendouree with plenty of lasting power. The Shiraz component derives from vineyard plots that include bush vine material. Parcels of very old vine Malbec bring further distinctiveness. The wine is vinified in open fermenters and matured for 12 months in new and used French oak.

The Jim Barry McCrae Wood is a fine example of the bold Clare Valley Shiraz style. Intense and concentrated, it is well worth putting away for five years at least!