2019 Iron Heart Shiraz
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Planted in 1999, Ironheart in Blewitt Springs is certified biodynamic and organic since 2012. North-facing on ironstone gravels. Farmed at 3.5 t/ha. 175–180 m in elevation. Dry season with lowish yields. Hand-picked, 25% whole bunches and the remainder destemmed. Open fermenters and on skins for 16 days. Spontaneous ferment. No pressings are used. Kept on lees in 35% new French oak puncheons, 65% older French oak puncheons for 9 months. Selected barrels were blended and further matured for 7 months in a 2-year-old French 25-hl foudre. Bottled September 2020. Screwcap. Deep ruby. Peppery blue fruits, lightly floral. Finely textured, almost chalky. Elegant and fresh. Subtle impression of oak. (JH)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Full screwcapped bottle all of 1,624 g but lighter in subsequent vintages, I believe. The estate's flagship Shiraz. Certified organic. Deep crimson. Really meaty and full-on. If King's Wood is the Côte Rôtie, this is the Hermitage. Very concentrated and meaty, but a recognisable nod to the Rhône rather than sweet, medicinal Barossa. It tastes more youthful than a wine that's nearly five years old. Very ambitious. More powerful than the lean and light canon so popular currently in Australia but a serious ripe Shiraz with some very fine tannin on the end. Another very clean, pure wine. Very long. Well done, Peter Fraser for making two such distinct Shirazes, both excellent. (JR)
The 2019 Shiraz Ironheart shows immense color, power and density as it ripples with licorice, chocolate and blackberry fruits with a distinctive peaty edge. Robust and flavorsome, it perfectly walks a tightrope between power and subtlety, taking on a more tarry and chocolatey personality through the extremely long finish. Punctuated by a firm core of muscular tannins, this wine is built to deliver for the long haul.
This has a complex and expressive nose of iodine, dried thyme, blackberry fruit, tar, cloves and crushed stones. Beautifully framed, with sleek and firm tannins providing an elegant support to the dark fruit and minerals. Slowly unwinds. From biodynamically grown grapes. Better from 2024. Screw cap.
About the producer
One of the leading names in Australian wine, managed today by Peter Fraser, Yangarra farms its 90 hectares of vines biodynamically. The McLaren Vale estate works with Rhône varieties and is best known for its outstanding Grenache, the top botting of which is its High Sands cuvée.