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  • 97
  • 97

2016 Shaw & Smith Shiraz

Adelaide Hills, South Australia, AUSTRALIA
$42. 99
Bottle
$515.88 Dozen
Cellar: 6 - 8 Years (2025-2027)
ABV: 14.5%
Closure: Stelvin

Sourced from low yielding vines predominantly at Balhannah, in the central Adelaide Hills, and from and Macclesfield, the warmer and drier sub-regions to the south, this is one of the benchmark Shiraz’ of the region. The fruit was fermented as a combination of whole berries and whole bunches in open fermenters and the resulting wine aged in French oak (33% new) for a period of 14 months. Midnight black dark red colour with a deep dark red black tinged hue. Very Northern Rhone like in its profile, pronounced meaty liquorice and dark plum scents are overlaid by complexing smoky clove elements with scorched earth, dried herbs and blackpepper ensuing. On the palate rich, supplely textured dark plum and liquorice flavours infused with smoky clove and dried meats overlay vanillin cedar, spicy herb and blackpepper characters. Firms up on the finish with sturdy tannins giving the wine some definition. Excellent power with a long spicy dark plum, liquorice, smoky clove, dried meats, vanillin cedar and peppered herb aftertaste.
Cellar 6-8 years.
Alc. 14.5%

Other Reviews….
Vibrant purple-black; seduces with swathes of dark cherries dipped in kirsch, florals, ferrous and woodsy spices, with toasty oak sewn to the shape of the fuller-bodied palate. Everything is in its place, creating an immaculate whole - the fine-grained tannins, the length, the freshness and detail. It's polished and totally convincing. Drink by 2028.
97 points
Jane Faulkner - James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion

Shaw + Smith Shiraz hits the jackpot.
Cracking shiraz. Pure, ripe, spicy, bold, long, savoury: the lot. Exquisitely well set with tannin. Blue, black and red berries. Crushed dry leaves, not to mention spices. Cloves. Cured meats. Fruit and then more. It’s a beauty. It finishes like a kite in a stiff steady breeze; it just wants to go and go and go.  Drink 2019-2032+
96 points
Campbell Mattinson – The Wine Front