2014 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz
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Tasting notes
The 2014 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is a succulent, supple and middle weight, elegantly styled wine. It has red fruit and minerality in abundance: raspberry leaf tea, aniseed, cocoa, pomegranate, raspberry and redcurrants. This is a beautiful wine, one of the great Graveyards. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
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Average Score
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
James Halliday
More reviews and scores
Own-rooted vines planted in 1968 on heavy clay. 3- to 4-day cold soak, then a 4- to 5-day ferment at 26–28 °C. The vineyard is on loam soil and gives a more floral character than those on red soils. The oak regime for this wine is 100% French, no new oak, for 15 months. Filtered. Screwcap. Mid garnet. Showing more of the leathery character that is just starting to show on the 2021. More open and even more perfumed. Minty, violets. Still youthfully chewy on the palate, ageing very slowly. Lovely freshness to the end. (JH)
From a great site and a great vintage, the 2014 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz is an exemplar for Shiraz from the Hunter Valley. It's as structured as ever but with more depth than usual and an extra layer of generosity. Black cherry fruit is framed by acids and subtle notes of French oak (think pencil shavings and vanilla), showing terrific persistence on the finish, where the tannins are plentiful yet fine grained. It's not unapproachable now but expect it to age gracefully for two decades or more.
It hardly needs be said this is a great Graveyard, shortlisted for Wine of the Year. It is full-bodied, with intense intersections and trails of black fruits, earth, leather, spice, oak and ripe tannins running in all directions. Its magic is that it remains coherent, with its line (or focus) never compromised.