Clare Valley Shiraz – two good ones

australia syrah

Clare Valley Shiraz – two good ones

Australia’s Clare Valley is a region I’m drawn to. It’s capable of making great Riesling, great Shiraz and great Cabernet Sauvignon – an unusual mixture. Perhaps this is because the temperature here is more moderate than the official statistics (which I heard once were taken from a weather station behind the post office in Clare) indicate. Here are two super – and affordable – examples of Clare Shiraz.

Wakefield Shiraz 2008 Clare Valley (winery is known as Taylors in Australia)
14.5% alcohol. Aged in American oak. Lovely focused meaty, spicy blackberry fruit nose. The palate is rich and vivid with ripe blackberry fruit. Rich yet well defined, and with potential for development. Not subtle, but delicious. 91/100 (£10 Ballantynes, Cheers, Peake, Taste, Vintage Wines, Wright Wine Co)

Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Shiraz 2008 Clare Valley
14.5% alcohol. From vineyards at 450 m altitude. Deep coloured. Intense, vivid nose of blackberry and blackcurrant. The palate is intense and darkly fruited with lovely freshness as well as vivid, pure, structured fruit. Dense and intensely flavoured, but still very fresh. 92/100

Find these wines with wine-searcher.com

4 Comments on Clare Valley Shiraz – two good onesTagged , ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

4 thoughts on “Clare Valley Shiraz – two good ones

  1. Jamie why is it that these wines, both rich and biggish and quite typically South Australian, manage to avoid that dismissive tag Spoofy. What is the criteria you use when deciding a wine, that is somewhat simple, has merit.Great blog by the way, this and winewank(which is very funny) are the only ones I regularly read.

  2. Had a few Lodge Hills. It was under a tenner when I first had some, but even now it is great value for money.

  3. They’re rich and big, but not spoofy – that’s because they are not over-ripe, or oaky. The dominant theme is well defined, vibrant fruit that’s still fresh.

Leave a Reply

Back To Top