Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2023

Each region in Australia has its pioneer winemaker, someone that changes and influences the entire region in so many good ways it has and will affect generations after them.  Jeffrey Grosset in Clare, Rick Kinzbrunner in Beechworth, Vanya Cullen in Margaret River, for Canberra it is definitely Tim Kirk.  Bookended by this wine the cultish Shiraz Viognier and beautiful Riesling, the suite of wines from the Clonakilla Estate never cease to satisfy and impress.

In their words - There is no doubt vintage 2023 gave us some anxious moments. The spring was so wet and cool that the vines were very reluctant to emerge from their winter sleep. When they did emerge, the shoots grew so slowly that I wondered whether the grapes would ever ripen. 

“Virtuoso winemaking...a masterpiece.” - Ken Gargett

Thankfully, the summer did finally arrive, and the vines embarked on the long but determined journey of ripening grapes through the warm late summer and mild but generally sunny autumn.  We ended up picking in mid-April, with the fruit exactly ripe and in excellent condition.  

“Orchestral. Spellbinding.” - Campbell Mattinson

You really have to smell this wine to believe the intensity and purity of fruit we received in the 2023 Shiraz Viognier.  As Clonakilla SV goes, this vintage strikes me as archetypal, style-defining, the essence of cool-climate Shiraz. It is certainly beautiful; aromatically thrilling with a classically luminous, elegant palate.

Critics thoughts - I’ve loved Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier since the 1997 release and I love them from all manner of seasons. But gradually, over time, I’ve come to really prize the results of the cooler seasons, and the 2023 season was one of those. In a wine like Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier, which comes from a micro-climate, seasonal variation makes a distinct difference.

The finesse of this release. The fragrance too, which leads to a palate where just enough, feels like extra. It’s buoyant, juicy and perfumed, with a wild party of spice notes flying through the wine like happiness itself, or like confetti, either way there’s an air here of celebration.  This wine sits on the apex of the road, where the rain meets the oil. The fruit flavours have a water-colour aspect; the texture coats the flavour in satin. We’ve come to expect all the above from Clonakilla’s flagship wine.

What’s special, for me, in this 2023 release is the web of tannin, as dewy as it is strong. There’s a weave to this release. It’s a masterpiece of twigs, nuts and strings.  If Morricone had been a winemaker he’d have made something like this. Orchestral. Spellbinding. Itself.  Abandon all resistance, ye who enter here.  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front