Bob’s cellar. Aged dark red, some bricking. Pnp. Red berries nose, menthol, funk and forest floor. Bright red fruit crunch, meatiness, still lively with a white pepper dash. Well constructed. On Pnp seems to have a good amount of life left. With a couple of hours air, this loses structure a little, age shows in the lack of freshness in the taste, even thought there is still a bright red fruit background. Still good but feels like a 'drink up' wine. Day 2, has softened and mellowed, Nice.
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Spice aftertaste. Smooth wine. Has a slight getting old flavour so my guess is at the end of its life. Deep red colour. One of their better years but not an outstanding wine. Acceptable but not mind blowing as I was expecting. Light acid with low tannin. Reasonable wine that doesn’t live up to its hype in my opinion. Had with some beautiful corned beef, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots and white sauce with onion.
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Bob's cellar. Young ruby red, softened by age. Blackcurrant, spicy nose, earthy meatiness just beginning to show. Opens with firm tannins, redcurrant and blackcurrant mix, open flavours and fine structure. Nice tartness there, with a layer of black fruit and supportive tannin. More air brings the fruit and structure together, and white pepper tones emerge. Very good, and the strong fruit remaining indicates this has lots more life left.
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Give this plenty of air if approaching now in order to let the wine harmonise - wine was better on second night, with the fruit integrating with the wine’s structure. Note: professionally stored since release; Stelvin.
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Screw cap. Popped and poured. Dark garnet. Took time in the glass to coax out the aromas. Dark fruit, leather, olive, cassis. The palate seems disjointed at first, and then came together. Medium bodied, integrated tannin, resolved. Seemed past its peak.
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Drink by 2020 in my cellar; 3/1/2020-7/8/2020: From memory. Popped and poured, followed over three days. I expected this to be near the end of its life, but this was vibrantly energetic. The Viognier smooths out and plumps up the Shiraz, rendering the grape at once elegant and approachable. Peach and blood orange with hints of iron and kalamata olive. A real pleasure to drink.
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Appearance: the wine is clear, medium ruby. Nose: the wine has medium (+) intensity. The aromas are of leather, violet, black pepper, red currant, nutiness, toast, truffle, blackberry, tobacco, licorice, nutmeg, cloves, red plum, savoury, mushroom. It's developing. Palate: the wine is dry, high acidity, medium (+) tannins, high alcohol, medium (+) body, medium (+) intensity, apricot, dark chocolate are coming through. the finish is medium (+). Overall, it's a very good wine. Can drink now, but has potential for ageing.
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Under screwcap. Medium to deep garnet, transparent core. Effusive and complex nose, wholebunch influence to the fore with pepper, stem and spice notes, blackberries and florals; surprisingly elegant - light to medium bodied, silky texture, the finest sheen of tannins on the midpalate, persistent fruit without weight, great length and balance. First class wine.
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The nose showed a nice perfume. On the palate, bottle age mostly brought dark fruit to the fore with white pepper and spice peeking through. A balanced and decent vintage for Clonakilla, if just slightly short on the finish.
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Screwcap. PnP. A little dark and broody initially, but opened up after an hour into a lovely balanced shiraz. Lots of ripe dark fruit accompanied with some subtle apricot jam (viognier!), leather, meat, herbs and woody/cedar tones. Nicely integrated and enough acidic drive to keep it fresh, despite the dark fruit. Tannins fairly resolved - good spot right now.
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Tasted in a lineup of Clonakilla’s flagship from 2005 to 2011, this was my favorite as well as the group’s. Velvety smooth with great soft acidity, and a long life ahead of it! The rest of the lineup we’re still too young to drink!
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This is markedly floral on the nose. There is medium acidity and a saline-inflected finish. Whilst mostly integrated, I find the tannins still provide some grip. I like the balance here, where there is power, and some purity of fruit showing through. If cellared well, there is no need to hurry on this.
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Drank on holidays in Tassie. Had with lasagna on first night and pizza the second- clearly not an ideal food matching combo. That said it’s such an approach Shiraz with soft tannins and spices it’s eminently drinkable. Good stuff.
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Popped and poured; no decant needed. good from the gate. Surprisingly Burgundy-like. Silky smooth, subtle but powerful fruit with a touch of blood and iron and a hint of orange peel. Delicious with grilled lamb burgers.
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Un Paseo por el Lado Oscuro (Restaurante Garcia de la Navarra - Madrid): Unanimously the bottle of the night. Elegant and complex aromas of cassis and wild strawberries perfectly combined with a lactic (shiraz) and a vegetable (petit verdot) note. After saying that there was no eucalyptus, someone immediately found it. That is the power of suggestion. In the mouth does not leave that lovely line with velvety texture and a good length. It refreshes your acidity and convinces your body that it fills without getting bored. A shiraz refined by time. All in harmony and without the heat of alcohol appearing at any time. A little gem. The real thing.
Unánimemente la botella de la noche. Elegantes y complejos aromas a cassis y fresitas silvestres perfectamente combinados con una nota láctica (shiraz) y otra vegetal (petit verdot). Tras decir que no había eucalipto, alguno inmediatamente la encontró. Lo que es el poder de la sugestión. En boca no abandona esa línea con textura aterciopelada y una buena longitud. Refresca su acidez y convence su cuerpo que llena sin aburrir. Una shiraz refinada por el tiempo. Todo en armonía y sin que el calor del alcohol apareciese en ningún momento. Una joyita.
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Had at BBQ with D and Cat, with steaks and tomato based salad. Very light considering it's a Shiraz - spices rather than pepper, almost floral. Tannins soft and integrated. Similar to my comment on some thre vintages - almost too easy to drink. Starting to age in the colour. Would agree this is the middle of the drinking window.
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First time I've ever had this, which is supposed to be one of the classic and more Rhone-like Aussies. It's good, but I wouldn't confuse it with Cote-Rotie. The viognier influence is obvious in the aromatics, which are very floral and perfumed. On the palate it's red-fruited with more leanness and cut than a stereotypical Aussie shiraz, but also a glossy slickness that gives it a definite New World profile. Still fairly primary though maybe about to push into more olive/brambly territory. Not really distinguished enough to make me seek out more of these though.
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Terroir-istes International - Australia-Clonakilla Vertical (Klein Constantia): (Blind Tasting): Mid-deep garnet colour, accompanied by an orange rim. Again, some development revealed tarry and overripe jammy black fruits with liquorice and dark chocolate. A deep and brooding wine with a ripe fruit core, there is a black cherry skin texture enlivened by fresh and lively acidity. Excellent concentration with a fleshy mid-palate, some generosity, and flavours of blackberry compote, cherry cola and blueberry. Touch of oak spices on the long finish. 93 Shiraz & 7 Viognier
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I had one of the 03 out of the cellar recently. Compared to the 03, this wine is years off being ready to drink. Still not much movement at the station. Don't drink this decade unless you have a dozen or so and are just interested to see how they develop. No integration of the tannins and the fruit. Very shut down.
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Dark cherries, some aniseed and background spiciness that is a little less obvious than I was expecting. Drying, moderately firm tannins give good structure but the hero is the awesome fruit. Great depth, length and balance, beautiful wine.
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I do love these Clonakilla cool climate Shiraz. Spices on the nose, dark fruites, with well integrated tannins. big withouit being overpowering. Still has a long life in front of it.
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Colour very dense purple red. Nose lovely and expressive with spices. Very lush palate of medium body, hints of pepper, super smooth and soft and with persistent length. Balance & class Lovely drink.
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Had with BBQed steaks.Spices on the nose, no real secondary leather tobacco that you get with Barossa Shiraz say. Pepper, black fruits. On the palate soft silky tannins. Very drinkable. Oliver said drinking window out to 2017 but this tastes like it's going to go a lot longer than that.
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Aromas of spice, apricot, black pepper, blue and black berries. Flows on to the palate, which is super fine, elegant, and long. The spice and pepper shows so well on the palate. Delicious tannins round off the wine. It's great now. Could easily keep though.
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Screw cap bottle. Decanted and then enjoyed over six hours. After one hour the dominant element was not quite ripe raspberry, also cherry, plum, pepper, florals. Elegant. Super super fine tannin. Perfectly balanced. Hour after hour this built in presence and power and intensity and length, shifting to become more savoury. My final glass smells and tastes wonderfully of meat juices, liquorice, pepper, cigar box, baking spices, sweet core of fruit in the background. Moral of the story is, if you are waiting to drink a bottle of this, it shows as an outstanding wine right now if given a lot of air, but geez I'd be tempted to wait and wait, as this is on the way to becoming something very special.
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Screw cap. Decanted 2 hours. Fine sediment. Lovely wine - layered aromatics of red and black fruits, florals, spices. Palate is so harmonious and fine with savoury nuances and seamless integration. Drinking really well now but no rush either.
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10 year Tasting of 2005 Vintage (Bronte, Sydney): medium-pale colour. pure clean nose, red berries and lightly spiced. an elegant wine, beautiful structure, Burgundian. plums, raspberries, with violet and ink undertones. well integrated, no noticeable oak, finishes with soft refined tannins and well matched acidity. drinking really well. not a blockbuster but in a very good way. more hermitage than cote rotie, but very un-Australian!
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Screw cap. I concur in the main with most previous posts. All I would add is that I found it still a bit fierce: I think it's going to take quite a few years. (This from a cool cellar since purchase)
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Diam seal. Mid deep ruby. Red berry and currant fruit with some spicy pepperiness on the nose, which was still a bit closed after a couple of hours in the decanter. Velvety palate with a nice balance between the ripe red fruit and savoury, mineral aspects. Fine grainy tannin and excellent length. This wine is yet to really reveal itself but will be excellent when it develops further. A definite hold for me (2018-2025). A small amount left in the glass for a few hours revealed the most perfect expression of cigar box - exactly reminiscent of a 2001 SV from a few years ago. (93+ Excellent wine)
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My wife said "Wow. What a wine." I kind of agree but will hold my other bottle until the secondary and tertiary flavours come out. Delicious without a decant, but most probably better in another five years.
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Showed well again today. Complex nose of florals, spice, cinnamon, purple fruit. Palate is mid weight, with a silky mouth feel and lovely balance. If anything, just finished a little short. Held up well the following day also.
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Lifted aromas of black fruits, florals and apricot. The palate is medium bodied, very fine, resolved. Touch of spice and pepper in the mouth. Well balanced. In it's drinking window now.
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Dark colour. Soft pure scent, redcurrants blueberry and only a bare hint of spice, a light nuttiness from oak. Silky texture, good acid but soft fleshy middle. Red fruits, gentle violets and licorice. Black pepper only, not much if any herbal spice. Lighter styled, flavours are pure and attractive though.
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Nice to look in at this after a couple of years. Dark fruits, leather and hints of apricot conserve on the nose. The palate is a little meatier than the nose suggests and shows nice line and length and good acidity. The tannins are now quite resolved and the mouth feel is refined and elegant within the context of a medium-to-full bodied wine. This is ready to go now, but should hold nicely for 5+ years.
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Well Im with Rayburn on this one. Bought this on release after it had recieved a lot of favourable press and tucked it away in eager anticipation. Decanted for an hour and consumed over 2 days. Dark garnet, purple hue. Nose quite closed, a faint hint of leather and some blackberry. Full bodied, meaty palate with more blackberry and a hint of white pepper. Relatively short finish. Overall quite disappointed with this. It wasnt a bad wine just nowhere near as good as expected and/or hoped. Interesting to note the others rated it much higher. I have one more bottle tucked away so will see if there was a bit of bottle variation going on. The wine could easily last another 2-5 years. Just not sure its worth keeping and based on this tasting, its certainly wasnt worth the price.
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Purple/garnet in colour. An evolving, layered nose of red and black fruit, violet, aniseed and herbs and spices. The palate is beautiful; commencing with ripe but elegant sweet fruit which becomes more herbal towards the finish. Good length and presence. Tannins are beginning to unfold, but remain quite powdery, and the acidity adds ample brightness and vivacity. This is just starting to enter its drinking window but I feel an extra 4-6 years will do wonders.
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Very good to excellent. Very dark wine. Nose full of dark fruits, some tar, violets and a slight touch of funk. Mouthcoating type of wine on the attack and then really hollows out on the midpalate. Wine really dropped off on the back end. Not sure where this one is going. Seeing the note below reminded me what I paid - a qpr this is not. I didn't find the alcohol or anything to be out of balance, just not a great wine.
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I was looking forward to trying this as I had been holding it since release. The nose was typical of an Aussie shiraz with blackberry, black cherry and a bit of tar. The palate was flat with some more blackberry and just a hint of spice. But not much more. The finish was likewise short and flat. Well made, not flawed, but uninspiring wine. Think this was somewhere near $50. So not worth it at that price.
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Dark ruby-purple colour; opaque. Aromas of peach, kirsch, black olives, crushed blackberries, black licorice, violets. Full-bodied, rich, with black fruit and licorice replays from nose. Moderate-long finish, ~40s with peach and crushed blackberry notes. Drank well with a two hour decant, allowing the alcohol to be more in balance and was a perfect pairing to a rack of lamb with herbes de Provence. Drink now-2015.
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paars rode kleur, fruitige neus, kersen, bessen, rijp en wat zwoel, kruidigheid, heeft wat van melk chocolade, keurige balans in de smaak, soepel en elegant, snoepje, de vorige fles maakte meer indruk, de frisheid valt op, maar de echte opwinding kom ik niet meer tegen, misschien is de wijn in een niet zo optimale fase
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Subtle and restrained. Black pepper, smoky meat, graphite, and boysenberry with Viognier contributing a sweet floral perfume, kiwi fruit, and hints of peach/apricot. Palate is quite green and herbaceous, with muted tannins and acidity, but refined and elegant. A wonderfully made wine, but it lacks fruit expression and excitement.
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Decanted for 1.5 hrs. Blackberry, floral and peppers on the nose - very attractive bouquet; medium to full bodied with firm but fine tannins, and buffering acidity. Became blocky after a few hours - needs more time in bottle to fully integrate.
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Clonakilla Vertical Dinner: Milk chocolate, smoked meat and violets. Palate is tightly structured. Good length with the restrained fruit. Very good and will get better with time in bottle.
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The Shiraz-Viognier blend was flavorful, spritely even, and not heavy. Its alcohol content is only 14%, which kept the heat down (sometimes a problem with Shiraz, IMHO). This wine will benefit from 5-10 years of aging. 89.
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Shared with friends on Christmas Eve. With hindsight probably the wine of the holiday season, despite being up against Mollydooker Carnival of Love 2005 and several others over the week. Lovely floral nose from the viognier, rich flavour and a long finish. Ready to drink now although interesting that Jeremy Oliver (Aussie wine critic) says leave till 2013.
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diep paars rood, geur is fruit, rijp donkerrood kers, verdere spicy met wat mooi frans eiken. smaak is krachtig en mooi gekruid met veel frisheid van het fruit. balans is super met alles op z'n plaats. wijn komt nog jong en fruitig over.heerljk
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12/13/2023 - Cremuel Likes this wine: 90 Points
Bob’s cellar. Aged dark red, some bricking. Pnp. Red berries nose, menthol, funk and forest floor. Bright red fruit crunch, meatiness, still lively with a white pepper dash. Well constructed. On Pnp seems to have a good amount of life left.
With a couple of hours air, this loses structure a little, age shows in the lack of freshness in the taste, even thought there is still a bright red fruit background. Still good but feels like a 'drink up' wine. Day 2, has softened and mellowed, Nice.
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11/6/2023 - Zweder Likes this wine: 93 Points
Beautiful and complex bouquet showing some maturity. Red berries, dark berries, herbs and spices. Good acidity. Great length.
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10/28/2023 - DrinkerTrev Likes this wine: 92 Points
Spice aftertaste. Smooth wine. Has a slight getting old flavour so my guess is at the end of its life. Deep red colour. One of their better years but not an outstanding wine. Acceptable but not mind blowing as I was expecting. Light acid with low tannin. Reasonable wine that doesn’t live up to its hype in my opinion. Had with some beautiful corned beef, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots and white sauce with onion.
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2/16/2023 - Cremuel Likes this wine: 91 Points
Bob's cellar. Young ruby red, softened by age. Blackcurrant, spicy nose, earthy meatiness just beginning to show. Opens with firm tannins, redcurrant and blackcurrant mix, open flavours and fine structure. Nice tartness there, with a layer of black fruit and supportive tannin. More air brings the fruit and structure together, and white pepper tones emerge. Very good, and the strong fruit remaining indicates this has lots more life left.
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9/29/2022 - lightning wrote: 92 Points
Give this plenty of air if approaching now in order to let the wine harmonise - wine was better on second night, with the fruit integrating with the wine’s structure. Note: professionally stored since release; Stelvin.
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8/27/2022 - fizz wrote:
Screw cap. Popped and poured.
Dark garnet. Took time in the glass to coax out the aromas. Dark fruit, leather, olive, cassis. The palate seems disjointed at first, and then came together. Medium bodied, integrated tannin, resolved. Seemed past its peak.
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5/14/2020 - prism wrote: 93 Points
Drink by 2020 in my cellar; 3/1/2020-7/8/2020: From memory. Popped and poured, followed over three days. I expected this to be near the end of its life, but this was vibrantly energetic. The Viognier smooths out and plumps up the Shiraz, rendering the grape at once elegant and approachable. Peach and blood orange with hints of iron and kalamata olive. A real pleasure to drink.
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12/7/2019 - Jason Wu Likes this wine: 94 Points
Appearance: the wine is clear, medium ruby.
Nose: the wine has medium (+) intensity. The aromas are of leather, violet, black pepper, red currant, nutiness, toast, truffle, blackberry, tobacco, licorice, nutmeg, cloves, red plum, savoury, mushroom. It's developing.
Palate: the wine is dry, high acidity, medium (+) tannins, high alcohol, medium (+) body, medium (+) intensity, apricot, dark chocolate are coming through. the finish is medium (+).
Overall, it's a very good wine. Can drink now, but has potential for ageing.
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7/12/2019 - lightning wrote:
Under screwcap. Medium to deep garnet, transparent core. Effusive and complex nose, wholebunch influence to the fore with pepper, stem and spice notes, blackberries and florals; surprisingly elegant - light to medium bodied, silky texture, the finest sheen of tannins on the midpalate, persistent fruit without weight, great length and balance. First class wine.
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7/6/2019 - Isaac L wrote: 91 Points
The nose showed a nice perfume. On the palate, bottle age mostly brought dark fruit to the fore with white pepper and spice peeking through. A balanced and decent vintage for Clonakilla, if just slightly short on the finish.
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5/31/2019 - HarveyManfrenjensenden wrote:
In fantastic condition. Very balanced.
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1/16/2019 - JonathanP wrote: 92 Points
Screwcap. PnP. A little dark and broody initially, but opened up after an hour into a lovely balanced shiraz. Lots of ripe dark fruit accompanied with some subtle apricot jam (viognier!), leather, meat, herbs and woody/cedar tones. Nicely integrated and enough acidic drive to keep it fresh, despite the dark fruit. Tannins fairly resolved - good spot right now.
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4/21/2018 - jrkirby Likes this wine: 96 Points
Tasted in a lineup of Clonakilla’s flagship from 2005 to 2011, this was my favorite as well as the group’s. Velvety smooth with great soft acidity, and a long life ahead of it! The rest of the lineup we’re still too young to drink!
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3/29/2018 - cliftonng Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is markedly floral on the nose. There is medium acidity and a saline-inflected finish. Whilst mostly integrated, I find the tannins still provide some grip. I like the balance here, where there is power, and some purity of fruit showing through. If cellared well, there is no need to hurry on this.
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2/3/2018 - chadslater Likes this wine: 91 Points
Drank on holidays in Tassie. Had with lasagna on first night and pizza the second- clearly not an ideal food matching combo. That said it’s such an approach Shiraz with soft tannins and spices it’s eminently drinkable. Good stuff.
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8/19/2017 - prism wrote: 93 Points
Popped and poured; no decant needed. good from the gate. Surprisingly Burgundy-like. Silky smooth, subtle but powerful fruit with a touch of blood and iron and a hint of orange peel. Delicious with grilled lamb burgers.
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2/9/2017 - Harley1199 Likes this wine:
Un Paseo por el Lado Oscuro (Restaurante Garcia de la Navarra - Madrid): Unanimously the bottle of the night. Elegant and complex aromas of cassis and wild strawberries perfectly combined with a lactic (shiraz) and a vegetable (petit verdot) note. After saying that there was no eucalyptus, someone immediately found it. That is the power of suggestion. In the mouth does not leave that lovely line with velvety texture and a good length. It refreshes your acidity and convinces your body that it fills without getting bored. A shiraz refined by time.
All in harmony and without the heat of alcohol appearing at any time. A little gem. The real thing.
Unánimemente la botella de la noche. Elegantes y complejos aromas a cassis y fresitas silvestres perfectamente combinados con una nota láctica (shiraz) y otra vegetal (petit verdot). Tras decir que no había eucalipto, alguno inmediatamente la encontró. Lo que es el poder de la sugestión. En boca no abandona esa línea con textura aterciopelada y una buena longitud. Refresca su acidez y convence su cuerpo que llena sin aburrir. Una shiraz refinada por el tiempo.
Todo en armonía y sin que el calor del alcohol apareciese en ningún momento. Una joyita.
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1/14/2017 - fullpour Likes this wine:
Good. Relieved that Clonakilla started using Diam closures in 2005 - just threw out bottles from 2002, 2003, and 2004 that had all gone bad :(
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10/29/2016 - chadslater wrote: 94 Points
Had at BBQ with D and Cat, with steaks and tomato based salad. Very light considering it's a Shiraz - spices rather than pepper, almost floral. Tannins soft and integrated. Similar to my comment on some thre vintages - almost too easy to drink. Starting to age in the colour. Would agree this is the middle of the drinking window.
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10/17/2016 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 87 Points
First time I've ever had this, which is supposed to be one of the classic and more Rhone-like Aussies. It's good, but I wouldn't confuse it with Cote-Rotie. The viognier influence is obvious in the aromatics, which are very floral and perfumed. On the palate it's red-fruited with more leanness and cut than a stereotypical Aussie shiraz, but also a glossy slickness that gives it a definite New World profile. Still fairly primary though maybe about to push into more olive/brambly territory. Not really distinguished enough to make me seek out more of these though.
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8/1/2016 - rikipedia Likes this wine: 92 Points
Terroir-istes International - Australia-Clonakilla Vertical (Klein Constantia): (Blind Tasting): Mid-deep garnet colour, accompanied by an orange rim. Again, some development revealed tarry and overripe jammy black fruits with liquorice and dark chocolate.
A deep and brooding wine with a ripe fruit core, there is a black cherry skin texture enlivened by fresh and lively acidity. Excellent concentration with a fleshy mid-palate, some generosity, and flavours of blackberry compote, cherry cola and blueberry. Touch of oak spices on the long finish.
93 Shiraz & 7 Viognier
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7/24/2016 - rooman Likes this wine: 94 Points
I had one of the 03 out of the cellar recently. Compared to the 03, this wine is years off being ready to drink. Still not much movement at the station. Don't drink this decade unless you have a dozen or so and are just interested to see how they develop. No integration of the tannins and the fruit. Very shut down.
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2/15/2016 - deverett wrote: 93 Points
Dark cherries, some aniseed and background spiciness that is a little less obvious than I was expecting. Drying, moderately firm tannins give good structure but the hero is the awesome fruit. Great depth, length and balance, beautiful wine.
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12/9/2015 - chadslater wrote: 94 Points
I do love these Clonakilla cool climate Shiraz. Spices on the nose, dark fruites, with well integrated tannins. big withouit being overpowering. Still has a long life in front of it.
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12/4/2015 - cerobo Likes this wine: 96 Points
Colour very dense purple red. Nose lovely and expressive with spices.
Very lush palate of medium body, hints of pepper, super smooth and soft and with persistent length. Balance & class Lovely drink.
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10/24/2015 - chadslater Likes this wine: 92 Points
Had with BBQed steaks.Spices on the nose, no real secondary leather tobacco that you get with Barossa Shiraz say. Pepper, black fruits. On the palate soft silky tannins. Very drinkable. Oliver said drinking window out to 2017 but this tastes like it's going to go a lot longer than that.
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8/26/2015 - fizz wrote: 93 Points
Aromas of spice, apricot, black pepper, blue and black berries. Flows on to the palate, which is super fine, elegant, and long. The spice and pepper shows so well on the palate. Delicious tannins round off the wine. It's great now. Could easily keep though.
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4/26/2015 - Avid Wino wrote: 95 Points
Screw cap bottle. Decanted and then enjoyed over six hours. After one hour the dominant element was not quite ripe raspberry, also cherry, plum, pepper, florals. Elegant. Super super fine tannin. Perfectly balanced. Hour after hour this built in presence and power and intensity and length, shifting to become more savoury. My final glass smells and tastes wonderfully of meat juices, liquorice, pepper, cigar box, baking spices, sweet core of fruit in the background. Moral of the story is, if you are waiting to drink a bottle of this, it shows as an outstanding wine right now if given a lot of air, but geez I'd be tempted to wait and wait, as this is on the way to becoming something very special.
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3/21/2015 - fizz wrote: 92 Points
Screw cap. Decanted 2 hours. Fine sediment. Lovely wine - layered aromatics of red and black fruits, florals, spices. Palate is so harmonious and fine with savoury nuances and seamless integration. Drinking really well now but no rush either.
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3/20/2015 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 93 Points
10 year Tasting of 2005 Vintage (Bronte, Sydney): medium-pale colour.
pure clean nose, red berries and lightly spiced.
an elegant wine, beautiful structure, Burgundian. plums, raspberries, with violet and ink undertones. well integrated, no noticeable oak, finishes with soft refined tannins and well matched acidity. drinking really well. not a blockbuster but in a very good way. more hermitage than cote rotie, but very un-Australian!
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1/14/2015 - john_s Likes this wine: 90 Points
Screw cap. I concur in the main with most previous posts. All I would add is that I found it still a bit fierce: I think it's going to take quite a few years. (This from a cool cellar since purchase)
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12/26/2014 - G.M. wrote: 93 Points
Diam seal. Mid deep ruby. Red berry and currant fruit with some spicy pepperiness on the nose, which was still a bit closed after a couple of hours in the decanter. Velvety palate with a nice balance between the ripe red fruit and savoury, mineral aspects. Fine grainy tannin and excellent length. This wine is yet to really reveal itself but will be excellent when it develops further. A definite hold for me (2018-2025). A small amount left in the glass for a few hours revealed the most perfect expression of cigar box - exactly reminiscent of a 2001 SV from a few years ago. (93+ Excellent wine)
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12/21/2014 - TravisW Likes this wine: 91 Points
My wife said "Wow. What a wine." I kind of agree but will hold my other bottle until the secondary and tertiary flavours come out. Delicious without a decant, but most probably better in another five years.
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11/29/2014 - fizz wrote:
Showed well again today. Complex nose of florals, spice, cinnamon, purple fruit. Palate is mid weight, with a silky mouth feel and lovely balance. If anything, just finished a little short. Held up well the following day also.
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8/11/2014 - fizz wrote: 90 Points
Lifted aromas of black fruits, florals and apricot. The palate is medium bodied, very fine, resolved. Touch of spice and pepper in the mouth. Well balanced. In it's drinking window now.
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3/29/2014 - Ianjaig Does not like this wine: 86 Points
Consistent with earlier notes. A big disappointment overall.
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9/15/2013 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark colour. Soft pure scent, redcurrants blueberry and only a bare hint of spice, a light nuttiness from oak. Silky texture, good acid but soft fleshy middle. Red fruits, gentle violets and licorice. Black pepper only, not much if any herbal spice. Lighter styled, flavours are pure and attractive though.
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8/3/2013 - JonathanP wrote: 92 Points
Nice to look in at this after a couple of years. Dark fruits, leather and hints of apricot conserve on the nose. The palate is a little meatier than the nose suggests and shows nice line and length and good acidity. The tannins are now quite resolved and the mouth feel is refined and elegant within the context of a medium-to-full bodied wine. This is ready to go now, but should hold nicely for 5+ years.
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5/23/2013 - ddingley wrote: 93 Points
Outstanding. Big fruit Shiraz but wonderfully balanced with mineral and herbs late. This was drinking great. Seemed like it could still go awhile
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7/18/2012 - Biglama wrote: 90 Points
lekker glas, drinkt makkelijk, niet zo complex als verwacht, blijft in goede conditie
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1/6/2012 - Ianjaig wrote: 86 Points
Well Im with Rayburn on this one. Bought this on release after it had recieved a lot of favourable press and tucked it away in eager anticipation. Decanted for an hour and consumed over 2 days. Dark garnet, purple hue. Nose quite closed, a faint hint of leather and some blackberry. Full bodied, meaty palate with more blackberry and a hint of white pepper. Relatively short finish. Overall quite disappointed with this. It wasnt a bad wine just nowhere near as good as expected and/or hoped. Interesting to note the others rated it much higher. I have one more bottle tucked away so will see if there was a bit of bottle variation going on. The wine could easily last another 2-5 years. Just not sure its worth keeping and based on this tasting, its certainly wasnt worth the price.
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12/28/2011 - JonathanP wrote: 93 Points
Purple/garnet in colour. An evolving, layered nose of red and black fruit, violet, aniseed and herbs and spices. The palate is beautiful; commencing with ripe but elegant sweet fruit which becomes more herbal towards the finish. Good length and presence. Tannins are beginning to unfold, but remain quite powdery, and the acidity adds ample brightness and vivacity. This is just starting to enter its drinking window but I feel an extra 4-6 years will do wonders.
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10/3/2011 - howie@wodiwodi wrote: 95 Points
Beautiful fruit, fine tannins and will last further
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1/19/2011 - skisdeeppow wrote:
Very good to excellent. Very dark wine. Nose full of dark fruits, some tar, violets and a slight touch of funk. Mouthcoating type of wine on the attack and then really hollows out on the midpalate. Wine really dropped off on the back end. Not sure where this one is going. Seeing the note below reminded me what I paid - a qpr this is not. I didn't find the alcohol or anything to be out of balance, just not a great wine.
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7/8/2010 - Rayburn wrote: 88 Points
I was looking forward to trying this as I had been holding it since release. The nose was typical of an Aussie shiraz with blackberry, black cherry and a bit of tar. The palate was flat with some more blackberry and just a hint of spice. But not much more. The finish was likewise short and flat. Well made, not flawed, but uninspiring wine. Think this was somewhere near $50. So not worth it at that price.
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7/3/2010 - futronic wrote: 92 Points
Dark ruby-purple colour; opaque. Aromas of peach, kirsch, black olives, crushed blackberries, black licorice, violets. Full-bodied, rich, with black fruit and licorice replays from nose. Moderate-long finish, ~40s with peach and crushed blackberry notes. Drank well with a two hour decant, allowing the alcohol to be more in balance and was a perfect pairing to a rack of lamb with herbes de Provence. Drink now-2015.
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4/15/2010 - Biglama wrote: 89 Points
kwam niet helemaal uit de verf na het geweld van de voorafgaande wijnen, fruitig kruidig, niet meer goed te beoordelen, leek niet helemaal in vorm
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4/10/2010 - WildeMeeuw wrote: 77 Points
Penfolds Grange among Australias greatest (Heemstede - Rest. Southern Cross): 2005 Clonakilla Shiraz - Viognier (Australië, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District) Kleur: Opvallend helderrood Aroma / bouquet: In eerste instantie: Muf… natte hond, metalig, ingedroogde dweil, fris. Na enige tijd: vooral bloemig, zurig / rabarber. Smaak / Afdronk: Medium bodied, metalig / zurig, krachtige tannines, wat mij betreft niet helemaal in balans. Algemeen / potentieel: Nieuwe-stijl Australische Shiraz met een flesfoutje… 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 6 + Smaak / Afdronk: 11 + Algemeen / potentieel: 5 = 77/100
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4/7/2010 - Biglama wrote: 90 Points
paars rode kleur, fruitige neus, kersen, bessen, rijp en wat zwoel, kruidigheid, heeft wat van melk chocolade, keurige balans in de smaak, soepel en elegant, snoepje, de vorige fles maakte meer indruk, de frisheid valt op, maar de echte opwinding kom ik niet meer tegen, misschien is de wijn in een niet zo optimale fase
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9/12/2009 - Giggs wrote: 90 Points
Subtle and restrained. Black pepper, smoky meat, graphite, and boysenberry with Viognier contributing a sweet floral perfume, kiwi fruit, and hints of peach/apricot. Palate is quite green and herbaceous, with muted tannins and acidity, but refined and elegant. A wonderfully made wine, but it lacks fruit expression and excitement.
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11/6/2008 - mike l. wrote: 90 Points
nice balance and acidity. nothing to go crazy about though.
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10/8/2008 - lightning wrote: 91 Points
Decanted for 1.5 hrs. Blackberry, floral and peppers on the nose - very attractive bouquet; medium to full bodied with firm but fine tannins, and buffering acidity. Became blocky after a few hours - needs more time in bottle to fully integrate.
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5/3/2008 - CamWheeler wrote: 90 Points
Clonakilla Vertical Dinner: Milk chocolate, smoked meat and violets. Palate is tightly structured. Good length with the restrained fruit. Very good and will get better with time in bottle.
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2/10/2008 - TomOfCT wrote: 89 Points
The Shiraz-Viognier blend was flavorful, spritely even, and not heavy. Its alcohol content is only 14%, which kept the heat down (sometimes a problem with Shiraz, IMHO). This wine will benefit from 5-10 years of aging. 89.
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12/24/2007 - Bromie wrote: 94 Points
Shared with friends on Christmas Eve. With hindsight probably the wine of the holiday season, despite being up against Mollydooker Carnival of Love 2005 and several others over the week. Lovely floral nose from the viognier, rich flavour and a long finish. Ready to drink now although interesting that Jeremy Oliver (Aussie wine critic) says leave till 2013.
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10/15/2007 - Biglama wrote: 94 Points
diep paars rood, geur is fruit, rijp donkerrood kers, verdere spicy met wat mooi frans eiken. smaak is krachtig en mooi gekruid met veel frisheid van het fruit. balans is super met alles op z'n plaats. wijn komt nog jong en fruitig over.heerljk
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7/14/2006 - CamWheeler wrote: 90 Points
Peppery and violet nose. The palate is balanced and has great length. Needs more time.
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