Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2024
£22.75
The wine
Signature Hilltops ripe dark fruit, with deep, concentrated cherry and blackberry character.
Hilltops is a small, high district around Young in New South Wales, at 450 metres and above, where the altitude gives Shiraz more pepper and structure than the warm inland regions manage. Clonakilla built its reputation on cool-climate Shiraz co-fermented with Viognier in the northern Rhône manner, and applies the same thinking here.
The producer
Clonakilla
View all Clonakilla winesClonakilla is one of Australia's most revered wineries, a small family estate in the cool Canberra District. Founded by the Kirk family, it built its reputation on a single, ground-breaking wine, a co-fermented Shiraz Viognier that reshaped Australian winemaking. Few estates are held in higher regard.
The vineyards sit at altitude in a cool, continental climate, ideal for aromatic, medium-bodied reds. Shiraz is the calling card, often co-fermented with a little Viognier in the manner of the northern Rhône. Careful, low-yield farming underpins the wines' finesse.
In the cellar, restraint is everything, with whole-bunch ferments and gentle handling that preserve perfume and freshness. The wines are fragrant, spicy and beautifully balanced, more Côte-Rôtie than blockbuster. Elegance defines the house.
From the iconic Shiraz Viognier to the excellent Hilltops Shiraz, Clonakilla offers cool-climate Australian reds of rare grace. Perfumed, savoury and ageworthy, they stand among the finest wines the country produces.
