Shaw + Smith, Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz, Adelaide Hills

An Aussie Shiraz for people who like wines from the Rhone. Ripe dark fruits and floral aromatics explode from the glass. Very boisterous, but not in that meaty way that over-ripe syrah can be. A touch of heat on the palate gives away that this probably isn't from France, but the structure and well integrated acidity make you think twice. Delicious in a "guilty pleasure" sort of way. A nice take on what Aussie Shiraz can really be. Drink or …

2015 vintage

Tasting Ground official tasting, Blind tasting #14 (Oinoscent) : The wine shows dark ripe fruit, sweet spices, thick oak frame, some black olive notes, plums, prunes, some gamey notes, some heavier floral ntoes. Palate shows med to full body, big bold juicy tannins, a bit warm, nice oak and sweet spices, clove, peppery notes, nice texture, a few smoky notes, long seamless finish

2020 vintage

Cherry kirsch, red-currant/raspberry and pepper dominate the nose. Great power on the palate but on a very structured and mineral background. Perfectly integrated tannins but this wine still has a long life ahead. Fruit-driven concentration, silky licorice-sweetness and a neverending finish.

2015 vintage

Shaw and Smitih masterclass, Epic Imports (Athens Capital Hotel - MGallery) : Grapes sourced from Balhannah Vineyard, 380m, more whole bunch than plain Shiraz, 14 months in 500-600lt puncheon, 20% new oak followed by 14 months in bottle -/- The wine shows beautiful fragrant character, black fruit, juicy, fine and elegant, floral notes, there is a sweetness here like a fresh and light jam. Palate shows ripe black fruit, very elegant wtih finely tuned tannins, fine acidity, lively, bright beautiful …

2020 vintage

The nose was elegant, a little natural, full of crunchy blue fruits and a healthy dose of stem spices as well. Easily could have mistakened this for a modern Burgundy maker in maybe an atypical appellation just from this nose alone. The palate though was rather sweet, peppery and spicy, which is more telling of its new world lineage. I thought the ripe sweet (but not jammy) red fruit was balanced very nicely by the clever use of stems here. …

2020 vintage

Beautiful ripe fruits and minerals in the bouquet. On the palate the same, some impressions of metal, a slight touch of sweetness and beautiful acidity and round tannin. Subtle and elegant wine which will improve with 5 – 10+ years of ageing. 92 – 93++

2020 vintage

The wine seems smoke tainted on the nose and palate. They made no Lenswood wines because of the smoke taint.

2020 vintage

Added by mistake.

2020 vintage

From 75cl screwcap, decanted 90 minutes, did not improve in glass. Primary, positive, pure, linear scent, entry and mid-palate: very ripe raspberry, moderately ripe blackberry, low acid, just too sweet (oh boy, why didn't they just ferment this out to 15% or even 15,5%? alc.) low-to-no tannins, so far so juicy and boring. But: Halliday 97P? Suckling 96P and "drink in 2022"? What's going on here? These two guys do give high scores to wines they like, but they're not …

2015 vintage

10th MW Symposium, Wiesbaden - Day 1 : Alcohol 14.0%, 0.7 g/l residual sugar, 5.3 g/l acidity, 3.85 pH Vineyard: Balhannah Vineyard Single vineyard, cool climate. 10-20yo vines. Yield: 6t/ha hl/ha Soil Type Ironstone and quartz. Vinification: Handpicked and fermented as predominantly whole bunches (70%) and the remainder whole berries, in open fermenters, with gentle plunging and minimal working. Maturation Large French oak, 14 months. Months in bottle: 96 -/- Big bold flavors, juicy black and red fruit, nice and …

2015 vintage

Inmiddels is deze shiraz al eens tot de beste van Australië bekroond. De stijl is een ommekeer in het land te noemen, want er zijn maar weinig _wineries_ in Australië in staat om wijnen te maken met zoveel verfijning, finesse en terroir.

2015 vintage

Opened musty both on nose and palate. Breathed off over an hour. Good rich Shiraz fruit. I expect it will look better in a few hours. Opened up nicely. Breathed off the mustiness. Medium weight, spicy Shiraz fruit. A little short. Better with more cellar time.

2015 vintage

Highly perfumed aromas of violets, plum and cassis. It has good flesh in the mouth and quite a velvety feel. Flavours linger and it is beautifully crafted.

2015 vintage

Clear bright red in appearance with a vibrant nose of red and blue fruits, vegetal overtones and touch of black pepper. The palate of this cool weather shiraz is medium-bodied, very well balanced, well-structured, bold and assertive, mouth-filling, with some unresolved tannins and plenty of lively acidity, and oh very appealing even at this young age. The favor components are driven primarily by fresh brambly fruits like cherries, mulberries, raspberries, cranberries and blackberries underscored by lots of forest undergrowths (and …

2015 vintage

Premium Ozzie Shiraz (Dulwich Wine Society) : Perfumed, olives, savoury, black fruit, beautiful Price: £25 QPX: 6/10 Q:3/4 P:1/3 X2/3

2015 vintage

Fairly reticent nose of dark fruits. Quite heavy in the mouth. Almost creamy palate full of those dark fruits again - blueberries, plums and blackberries. Definitely a savoury edge. Very little grip on what is an impressively long finish. I reckon it's definitely into its drinking window, but I'm not sure the style is really for me. A bit too big and syrupy. Think I'll leave the rest of the case for a little while to see how things develop.

2015 vintage

I was thinking that the shirazes were trending lighter but this one took a step in that cough syrup direction and didn't really work for a summer night. Blueberry and blackberry compote, chocolate, baking spices.

2015 vintage

2 weeks in Australia with a stopover in Singapore; 6/14/2019-7/1/2019 (Singapore, Sydney, Adelaide, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills) : Tasted at the winery. Color is deep ruby and the nose has dark red fruit and spice cabinet. On the palate this is balanced and soft, red fruited with spices, red raspberry. I quite liked this one.

2015 vintage

Return to Aus; 6/23/2019-7/5/2019 (Adelaide, South Australia wine regions, Tassie, Yarra, etc.) : By far my favorite wine of the tasting. Served out of a mag. The nose on this was just wonderful. It's clear that this takes some inspiration from the Rhone. Get all those briney notes. Violets. Darker fruits. There's a light and fresh quality to this which seems to come both from the body and the slightly cooler temp it's served at. Not super high in acid …

2015 vintage

Sehr körperreicher, tiefdunkler Shiraz mit viel Power.

2015 vintage

Decanted the bottle for an hour, took another half an hour or so in the glass to open up. But when it did it was a great, mildly heavy, peppery shiraz with no strong aftertaste on the pallet. I imagine would be smoother in a few years, but pretty good for now.

2015 vintage

Winebar [4 Whites, 8 Reds, & 6 *shared* bottles] from 11/09/18 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA) : 99% Shiraz & 1% Viognier "from low yielding vines predominantly at Balhannah, in the central Adelaide Hills, and Macclesfield, the warmer & drier sub-region to the S. Hand picked, sorted, & fermented as a combination of whole berries & whole bunches in open-top, s/s fermenters (temps up to 90°F), with gentle plunging & minimal working. Aged in FR oak barriques & barrels …

2015 vintage

At tasting of current release Shaw & Smith and Tolpuddle with Adam Wadewitz. 70% whole bunch ferment. 100% puncheons. 30% new oak. Fine, perfumed nose. Very fine. Firm, fine, perfumed palate. Good length. Beautiful balance. Lovely wine. Hermitage-like. Try 2025. Adam said the 2017 shiraz is beautiful.

2015 vintage

Adelaide trip; 7/26/2018-7/29/2018 (Adelaide and the surrounding environs) : Cream, pepper, muted toasted blackberry. A slightly more spiky version of the magnum but with a smidge of leather. Juicy, spicy, very slight reductive on the palate. Blackberry, drying, grippy, flour textured taninns. Hmm

2015 vintage

Adelaide trip; 7/26/2018-7/29/2018 (Adelaide and the surrounding environs) : Blackberry, slight stalks, peppery spice, a little orchard fruit note, meaty and earthy elements. On the palate it's juicy with peppery spice backed by slightly toasted blackberry marred to drying four textured tannins. Good

2015 vintage

Shaw & Smith newest releases (Bel & Brio, Barangaroo) : Blackberry under black and green peppercorns, cedar and sweet spice, a little toasted biscuit, caramel, sweet oak, cream. Riper and more sweet t black fruit on the palate backed by peppery spice and slightly gritty tannins finishes with plenty of alcohol heat.

2015 vintage

Shaw & Smith newest releases (Bel & Brio, Barangaroo) : Pepper, blackberry, savoury and meaty - almost charcuterie notes, struck match and smoked bacon fat. Juicy, fleshy, savoury black fruit and peppery spice, grippy tight but silky tannins and the fruit persists long. Again, some alcohol heat, but this is far less intrusive. Good.

2015 vintage

Deep ruby appearance. Developing and med (+) intensity on the nose. Black cherries, blueberries, cedar. On the palate dry with medium acidity, medium (+) tannins. Body is med (+). Alcohol high. Flavour is med (+) and palate has dark black berries, plums, savoury. Finish is med. Wine is well made, shows good balanced with mostly primary fruit characters and nice finish. Quality is good, well-balanced. Wine appears a little shy now could use a longer decant before enjoying.

2015 vintage

Spicy with a herbaceous character along with opulent mulberry notes. The tannins are a bit overbearing for the moment.

2015 vintage

Very refined and elegant Rhone style Shiraz. The fruit seemed quite tightly woven and wine presented more savoury, smokey, truffle flavours with a little red/brown floral lift. Wonderfully structured and very popular with guests. Still very young of course.

2015 vintage

Shaw and Smith (Adelaide Hills) : Raspberry perfume and pepper on the nose. Raspberry and blackberry palate. Very light tannin, medium acid. Medium-short finish of berries with just a bit of herbs. Very fruit-forward wine. Okay.

2015 vintage

Meerea Park Benchmarking Masterclass - 19 November 2017 (Meerea Park Cellar Door) : Darker colour. Smoky, subtle spice. Elegant and really easy going. Some light bramble notes. Good depth. I wouldn’t say cool climate, but who wants to start an argument about Adelaide Hills not being a cool climate region?

2015 vintage

Shaw & Smith/Tolpuddle tasting (Prince Sydney, 40 Hansard Street) : Muted black cherry and berry, oak, black pepper as well but only slight, and quite muted. Juicy, peppery black cherry, broad mid-palate, oak, fine textured tannins. Young, yes, but still rather nice.

2015 vintage

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Shaw + Smith, Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz, Adelaide Hills

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