2012 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

Community Tasting Notes (33) Avg Score: 92.7 points

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  3/30/2023 - F1NUT Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Great condition. Lovely slightly savoury earthy bouquet with a heady influence of red cherries and plum. Smooth palate including nice balance of red fruits soft acidity and fine tannin. Some savoury and meaty aspects like a Pinot on steroids this is medium bodied but full of interesting flavours. Great length and good with chicken pork and beef because it's complementary and not overbearing. Wonderful wine and good years ahead still.

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  3/17/2023 - wineian Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Good depth of colour, no browning at the edges. Mid weight wine. Smooth, elegant silkiness from the Shiraz with a touch of meatiness and a layer of sweetness from the viognier but not overtly so. Easily drinkable. Not from a wow vintage but nor a showstopper wine but eminently enjoyable and easy to drink.

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  1/20/2023 - Wadham Cellar wrote: 92 Points

  This is improving in my estimation over time. Perfumed meaty noise. Sweetness from the viognier. Not complex on mid palate but in its own understated way finishes well. Certainly not a blockbuster. Perhaps a wine to enjoy without food. No sign of premature aging despite the vintage.

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  7/10/2022 - Dr S Likes this wine: 91 Points

  While I’ve always had a soft spot for this wine, I can’t help but agree with the two apt reviews below. It’s not in the top rank of a distinguished line, but does represent a minor triumph over a tricky vintage (200ml rain at the end of Feb) that offers loads of complexity and interest.
  
  Good colour still with some gradual fade. Along with the way it evolved over two nights, this tells you the lights aren’t out yet.
  
  A heady, perfumed nose swirling with intrigue. Macerated cherry/strawberry, loaded up with Mid East spices, meaty things too. Yes there’s a streak of pronounced green herb and stalk, but it comes and goes as fennel, pepper and trademark baking bones swim into view. Yin and Yang. Depends on your preference and sensitivity to herbals, but I found the other characters grabbed my attention: it became but one note in the chorus.
  
  The fine composed palate is good but reveals the vintage’s limitations. Clean red fruits run true down its length, a touch of leather and soft fresh acid. But neither the depth nor weight appears to suggest it will evolve much further. A touch bony. The palate will hold steady while the nose continues its thing for five or so years but good drinking now.

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  4/14/2022 - Wadham Cellar wrote: 91 Points

  Pronounced viognier on nose. Palate never quite matches it, although improves with air. Elegant, understated, enjoyable but not great. Interesting to see how this develops.

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