SHIRAZ VIOGNIER

Unequivocally, this wine cemented Clonakilla’s reputation as a producer of excellence. Aside from the stunning ’05 and ’08 served at dinner, 21 vintages from 1994 to 2021 were split into three brackets thoughtfully contextualised under three headings: ‘Luminous’ indicating cool years, ‘Ethereal’ all about temperate years, and ‘Glow’ showcasing warm vintages. Each bracket was laden with beautiful wines.

LUMINOUS VINTAGES

1995, 2002, ’10, ’11, ’12, ‘17 and ‘21

Tim describes cooler vintages as showing “lots of spice, lots of pepper, florals and we bring at Clonakilla a celebration of redness. Raspberries, strawberries, and roses and red berries and florals. In these cool years, we are very grateful for the light, for every sunny day, very grateful for days without rain. How do we compartmentalise light? Photon! We wanted to capture the photon.”

The real surprise and delight of the bracket, the 2011. “I can say, hands down, 2011 was the worst vintage in the modern era. We left half of the shiraz unpicked. So, I’m really pleased with how this has come up. Obviously, we picked very carefully, always trying to make something beautiful even in the tough years.” The wine is so appealing, lighter framed with plenty of acidity keeping it alive.

ETHEREAL VINTAGES

1994, ’97, 2001, ’04, ’06, ‘13 and ‘14

The wine that launched Clonakilla was the 2001 thanks to various accolades as it announced Australian shiraz was heading into a new direction reflecting a cool climate story. “In terms of my emotional journey, it’s between this wine and the next, and if I had to name my favourite it’s between the ’01 and ’04. It’s just the wild and ethereal nature of that perfume I love. Some thought we had overdone the viognier (seven per cent in both) because it was so floral but shiraz in these soils is floral. I don’t accept that all the lift in those wines is about viognier.”

However, ’06 cemented the Clonakilla style with its 30 per cent whole-bunches. A highlight in the bracket.

GLOW VINTAGES

1998, 2003, ’07, ’09, ’16, ’18 and ‘19

The 1998 nabbed the trophy for wine of the show at the New South Wales Wine Awards, out of the shiraz class dominated by the Hunter Valley. Chair of judges, wine writer Huon Hooke, noted at the time he and the other judges couldn’t “quite believe their luck, finding this diamond casually lying buried among the rubble.”

Tim adds: “The ’98 announced that Canberra shiraz in a New South Wales context was a genuine player. We were there and punching hard.” While there was bottle variation on the day, the ’98 I tried was a Zen wine, so calming. A finely tuned aged shiraz viognier replete with fine tannins and beauty.