2008 Giaconda Shiraz Warner Vineyard

Inky ruby. Explosively perfumed, smoke-accented aromas of blackcurrant, boysenberry, candied licorice, cola and exotic Indian spices. Lush, supple and palate-coating, with deeply concentrated, almost liqueur-like black and blue fruit flavors and an energizing note of black pepper. Suave and appealing now but some late, gripping tannins suggest that this wine will reward further patience.

Very dark crimson. Sweet and round and rich and much sweeter and looser and more transparent than the average Shiraz. Drinking restaurant wine. Really quite sweet on the end. (JR)

From fruit sourced from their partner Graham Warner’s vineyard about 3.5 kilometers down the road, the 2008 Warner Vineyard Shiraz is co-fermented with about 1.5% Roussanne. The grapes get a bit of a cold soak before the fermentation begins naturally with a 3-4 week maceration period on skins. “We’re aiming to make wines with tannins and backbone without overly sweet fruit,” Rick explained as we tasted. Deep garnet-purple in color, this wine has intense aromas of crushed blackberries, violets, red roses, red licorice, black pepper, some game / hung meat, allspice and mocha. With medium-high acid and a high level of very fine tannins, this concentrated yet elegant, medium to full-bodied Shiraz has a long spicy finish. Cellar it for another year or two and enjoy it through 2020+. Of all my visits around Victoria this time, Giaconda was one of the most fascinating and rewarding. Fascinating because Rick Kinzbrunner is inspired and inspiring, rewarding because the wines are so mind-blowingly good. If not Australia’s greatest dry white wine, Giaconda’s Chardonnay is certainly right up there. The grapes come from a small (4 hectare) patch of silicified soil (unique to this area) just in front of the winery. In terms of production, there are no shortcuts. Receiving 100% barrel fermentation, natural yeasts and full malo-lactic, the wine spends just under 2 years in barrel, 1/3 new wood. It is left on its lees for 2 years, but if necessary some barrels are racked. There is not a lot of lees stirring here and the wine is never pumped or filtered but strictly bottled by gravity flow. Importer: Negociants USA; Napa, CA; tel. (707) 259-0993