Ranked #7 of 114 2012 Shiraz Viognier from Canberra District
94/100
4.5 Stars
Huon Hooke
Peppery spice aromas, some earthy notes, a cooler year wine, elegant and tidy in the mouth, fine and tight. A very cool dude, and a lovely drink.
Tasted: 13/02/2018
Drink: to 2037
93 Points Robert Parker
Medium garnet-purple in color, the 2012 Shiraz Viognier shows quite a stemmy and herbal, lifted nose with a good amount of black and red fruits plus pepper and baking spices. Medium-bodied and delicately fruited, this tight-knit, youthful wine has berry and peppery flavors tautly shaped by firm levels of chewy tannins. It finishes long. Drink now to 2025+.
Source: Robert Parker (Robert Parker Wine Advocate) by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. June, 2014
97 Points James Halliday
Has the best colour of the '12 Clonakilla red wines, hardly a surprise; the bouquet is supremely fragrant, almost flowery/scented, the palate instantaneously imprinting its total harmony and balance; fruit, oak and tannins are all seamlessly interwoven, the length prodigious. Low yields were the secret. Drink to 2032.
-. June, 2023
96 Points Tyson Stelzer
A lighter, more savoury and more perfumed Clonakilla that promises exceptional longevity. It''s explosively fragrant, exotically spicy and refreshingly tangy, loaded with potpourri, cardamom, dried flowers, Campari, white pepper and rose hip over an elegant core of morello cherries. Lively acidity meets superfine, impeccably crafted tannins of immense presence. Cellar for a decade and drink with game. Drink 2022 - 2032.
Source: Tyson Stelzer.
Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2012 Shiraz/Viognier (with 5% co-fermented Viognier) leaps from the glass with exuberant aromas of red and black currants, red cherries, cranberries and mulberries plus nuances of lavender, lilacs, dried Provence herbs, damp earth and incense. Like the previous vintage, this is a generally more elegant and restrained light to medium-bodied style than ‘normal’ for this wine and yet it has wonderful vibrancy and intensity in the mouth with layers of red fruits and baking spice flavors taking it through to a long, harmonious finish. The ripe, finely grained tannins are still a little firm and the restrained nature needs another couple years to fully blossom, so my recommended drinking window is 2015 to 2025+. Source: Robert Parker (eRobertParker.com) June, 2013 by Lisa Perrotti-Brown